Latest news with #Romo
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach Fourth of July Bike Cruise returns, after the fireworks this year
Ed Romo did not start the Huntington Beach Fourth of July Bike Cruise for money or fame. He's most proud of the event, which launches into its sixth year on Saturday morning, because of people like Michelle Marie West. He connected with West on social media as she wanted to help him with some sponsors for the event. After a bit of conversation, he found out that her father was a veteran of the armed forces who had just passed away. Now he wants to give West a medal, lei and wristband for a free lunch at Bruno's Sports Bar & Grille downtown to honor her father, the same things given to all of the other veterans who come to the bike cruise. Romo told her story to another veteran, Mickey Rat, a surfer whose real name is Mike Ester. Rat responded that he wants West to ride with him in the front car for the event, a cherry red 1947 Ford convertible. 'She just felt so honored and feels like she's doing so much for her father now,' Romo said. 'She's representing him. I just felt really good about that, and I can't wait for her to be there and get in there. 'It just all comes down to love. The love that you feel for the community and that people have for each other is incredible, and that's why this thing got so big. Nobody's making any money on this thing, it's just all for us.' The free ride, emceed by Mel Craig, has certainly grown in popularity, with around 20,000 bike riders participating in it last year. It is typically held the Saturday before the Fourth of July, but with the holiday on a Friday this year, it will be the day after. Riders are encouraged to bring a decorated bike and a warm spirit. The cruise begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Main Street and Yorktown Avenue, though riders are encouraged to arrive earlier. It ends at Main and Walnut Avenue. Romo has lined up six bands that will lead into the city's Main Street Block Party from noon to 7 p.m., which will feature entertainment including Redneck Rodeo and the Ramsey Brothers. There will also be free face painting for kids this year, done by a group including local artist Melissa Murals. 'I want everybody to be as one, loving our country,' said Romo, whose two adult daughters, Cassidy and Cayla, lead the ride with two big American flags. 'This is the one day, for a couple of hours, where everybody can just love our country as one and love each other as one. No color, no race, no anything. For a couple of hours, let's just grab our kids and everybody feels that love.' Huntington Beach resident Tina Toulouse, with help from fellow local Diana Sullivan, makes the leis for veterans each year. Toulouse, whose first husband was a U.S. Marine, will be presenting the leis to the veterans herself this year along with Sullivan, the mother of an active Marine. She said they will be made of ti leaves, with purple orchids added to represent courage and bravery. 'Everybody says Huntington Beach is Surf City and everything, but this is not about surfing,' Toulouse said. 'This is about all of the people who live here, and we get to have almost a small-town expression but it's so big. Everybody knows Surf City the world over, but yet here we are doing this small-town thing. There's just so much love and fun and community and friends. It's great, and it's growing and growing.' For more information or updates on the Huntington Beach Fourth of July Bicycle Cruise, visit
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Yahoo
‘DWI King' cashing in while his cases crumble
LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) – He was known as the 'DWI King,' making hundreds of drunk driving arrests for the state's largest police force, before his name was connected to the ongoing federal DWI corruption investigation. KRQE Investigative Reporter Gabrielle Burkhart reveals how this is impacting recent drunk driving cases, and how much the officer is getting paid to stay off the force. Latest from KRQE Investigates Former APD officer tied to DWI scandal now working in Durango 'DWI King' cashing in while his cases crumble Behind The Story: Kids Sleeping In CYFD Offices 8th officer pleads guilty for role in DWI Unit scandal KRQE Investigates: Can CYFD finally end kids sleeping in offices? New Mexico State Police Sergeant Toby Lafave is known for cracking down on drunk driving in New Mexico. 'I love this uniform, I like serving the public,' he told KRQE News 13 during a 2019 interview. Lafave held a long reputation for holding people accountable. His own dash and lapel police cameras capture his hundreds of arrests over the years. The so-called 'DWI King' joined the force more than 20 years ago, and was featured on billboards for the state's 'ENDWI' campaign. 'By the time someone is arrested for DWI, it's not usually their first time,' explained Barbara Romo, District Attorney for the 13th Judicial District. 'It's just the first time they get caught, right?' The idea that Lafave was a straight shooter — one who upheld the law and kept the streets safer — made it all the more shocking when his name got tied to the ongoing federal investigation into the state's biggest DWI corruption scandal. It's a scheme involving officers working with a now-disgraced defense attorney, accepting cash to get DWI cases dismissed. Thomas Clear III and his paralegal, Ricardo 'Rick' Mendez, have since pleaded guilty in federal court to RICO conspiracy charges. Lafave's name was placed on the Bernalillo County District Attorney's 'Giglio list' in February, joining more than a dozen other law enforcement officers who are no longer considered credible witnesses in court. It's part of the pending federal investigation into officers participating in the corruption scheme. 'If you're betrayed by a stranger, it's like, well, that's that person – what can you do?' Romo explained. 'But then it starts getting, it hurts a lot more. It stabs you a little bit deeper when it's someone that you should be able to trust with these cases,' she added. DA Romo is responsible for prosecuting cases in Cibola, Valencia, and Sandoval counties. But without an arresting officer's testimony, a conviction, especially in a DWI case, isn't possible. 'We can't prosecute any of his cases where he's the primary officer,' Romo explained. 'I've been doing this a long time, so you think that you've seen it all, but then something like this happens and you realize that you haven't,' New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler told KRQE in a February interview. Chief Weisler said he got a call from the FBI and immediately placed Lafave on administrative leave on February 13th. The pending cases Lafave handled were automatically dismissed in court, with no consequences for the accused. 'I've never been to jail, please, sir! Please!' One driver pleaded with Lafave during her DWI arrest in December. The woman admitted to drinking and driving, confessing to her arresting officer, Sgt. Lafave, 'I drink sending my kids to school.' She's heard on lapel video telling the Sgt., 'I need to contact my father because honestly, he's probably super mad at me.' Lafave replied, 'At least you're alive, you know?' What could have been a harsh lesson for that young mom is now a lucky break. It's a similar story again and again. 'I'd rather you be late for curfew than me scrape your body off the roadway because someone chose to drive drunk,' Lafave is heard on lapel video telling young passengers during a recent DWI stop. Dozens of Lafave's most recent encounters with apparent drunk drivers – many of them young – now amount to dozens of free passes in court. In one traffic stop, Sgt. Lafave made in September, he asked the young driver how old she was. 'I'm 19,' she replied. 'I was trying to catch up to you,' Lafave told her. 'You actually reached a speed of 98 miles an hour.' The teenage driver he stopped from flying on the freeway around 4 a.m. that day is seen on lapel video failing field sobriety tests. Below is a transcript from a portion of her field sobriety test administered by Lafave, as he attempts to have her recite a portion of the alphabet: Lafave: Starting with the letter H as in Henry, stopping at the letter R as in driver: I can't do You can't do that test? Why not?Teen driver: Wait, H?Lafave: start at H and stop at driver: I can' Why not?Teen driver: I've never had to count backwards by Okay. One, you're not counting. You are reciting the alphabet forward. Lafave arrested the 19-year-old for DWI. While handcuffed in the backseat, the teenage driver gives Lafave attitude. 'It's gonna automatically get duh-missed,' she shouted from the backseat. 'Duh-missed?' He replied. 'I ain't gonna get charged with s***!' She told Lafave, while calling him names during the remainder of her arrest. As fate would have it, she was right. Her case was dismissed this year, but not because she proved to anyone that she wasn't driving drunk that night. It's a glimpse of the nearly 40 pending DWI cases prosecutors were forced to drop due to Lafave losing credibility. Hers is among the seven case dismissals that reach beyond the metro. 'Yeah, it doesn't send a good message,' explained DA Romo. 'But by the same token, I can honestly say that the vast, vast majority of law enforcement officers I've worked with across the state, they're out there doing their job, and I guarantee you they hate this more than anybody,' she added. Lafave is still on administrative leave pending the federal and now internal investigation by New Mexico State Police. KRQE Investigates confirmed through public records that Sergeant Lafave is still making a full $54-an-hour paycheck while on leave. That amounts to Lafave getting paid more than $39,000 and counting to stay off the streets. And while the public has seen at least seven officers criminally charged in the scheme, the feds so far have not charged Lafave. His long-standing crusade against drunk drivers is now clouded with questions about his own conduct. In Bernalillo County, the District Attorney's Office was forced to dismiss nearly 300 DWI cases as a result of officers losing credibility in court. New Mexico State Police tells KRQE their internal investigation into Lafave is still ongoing. While DA Romo was forced to dismiss pending cases involving Lafave, she said she will not be going back through adjudicated cases handled by compromised officers. That is, unless a defense attorney files a motion to do so. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
21-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former NFL QB Tony Romo's golf career continues at this Illinois tournament
Tony Romo is scheduled to return for a third straight year to play in the OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois Championship field and in a pro-am event. The NFL broadcast analyst for CBS and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback will be part of the pro-am at Metamora Fields Golf Club on Tuesday. He is also scheduled to visit the OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois as part of his trip, according to OSF. Romo, 45, played high school football in Wisconsin and college football at Eastern Illinois. He went undrafted in 2003, but ended up playing 13 seasons with the Cowboys before retiring in 2017. He now is the lead color analyst for CBS's NFL broadcasts, working with top play-by-play voice Jim Nantz. What is the OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois Championship? The tournament for professional players begins 7 a.m. Wednesday and runs through Saturday, with the first two rounds at Metamora Fields and WeaverRidge Golf Club. The final two rounds will be played at Metamora Fields. Spectators can attend all rounds at both courses for free. The men's purse is an estimated $175,000, with $35,000 going to the winner, and the women's tournament total purse is estimated at $80,00,0 with $10,000 to the winner, according to the ATP and ANNIKA websites. The tournament features a men's draw from the Men's All-Pro Tour, a circuit of rising young pro players. The women's side is the ANNIKA Tour, named in honor of legendary golfer Annika Sorenstam. Who else is scheduled to play in the event? Former Morton and University of Illinois star Tommy Kuhl is scheduled to play in the pro tournament. It's not known yet if he'll join Romo in the pro-am. Former Metamora golfer and Germantown Hills native Ryan Ballard is in the draw, as is former Pekin golfer and Pekin resident Mason Minkel, playing under amateur status. Also in the draw are East Peoria and Illinois State golfer David Perkins and former Fieldcrest player and Minonk resident Clay Wells. As of Friday, there are players in the women's draw from India, Myanmar, Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, China, Canada, Australia, Germany, South Africa, France and all around the U.S. The men's side is mostly players from around the U.S. What are the APT and ANNIKA Tours? The APT is a developmental level of the pro game that has produced PGA Tour winners Mark Hensby, J.L. Lewis, Tim Herron, Cameron Beckman, Bubba Watson, and Ryan Palmer, Scottie Scheffler, Hayden Buckley, Michael Arnaud, and 2021 Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris. The ANNIKA Tour has seen Yealimi Noh, Matilda Castren, Gabby Then, Grace Kim, Sofia Garcia, Alexa Pano, Savannah Vilaubi and Riley Rennell all graduate to the LPGA Tour. Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@ Follow him on @icetimecleve.
Fox Sports
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Dak Prescott Knows He Needs a Super Bowl, or Else He'll Be the Next Tony Romo
Dak Prescott knows the score better than most. Yes, he's the quarterback of the NFL's most polarizing team. Yes, he's the face of a franchise that's about to begin its 30th season since its last championship. Yes, he's paid a league-best $60 million per season to fix that, and yes, he hasn't come close as of yet. That's all standard information. Everyone who follows the Dallas Cowboys, whether they love them or hate them, is aware of that. So it isn't exactly surprising that, when asked about his legacy in football last week, Prescott stayed singularly focused on the goal of winning the Cowboys a sixth Super Bowl title. "I want to win a championship," he said. "Be damned if it's just for my legacy, or if it's for this team, for my personal being, for my sanity. Yeah, the legacy will take care of itself. I have to stay where my feet are." It's an understandable answer, but what sets Prescott apart is that he's lived this story from both angles. It's easy to forget as he prepares for his 10th season as their starting quarterback, but Prescott was a Dallas Cowboys fan long before they ever drafted him. Growing up in Haughton, Louisiana, Prescott was a mere three-hour drive from Dallas-Fort Worth for most of his life. He grew up a Cowboys fan. He was a 19-year-old Cowboys fan in 2012, when Tony Romo threw three interceptions in a must-have, win-and-in regular season finale against Washington. The regrettable night prompted Prescott to publicly denounce Romo in a tweet that has aged into one of the most ironic twists of fate possible. Prescott knows what the goal needs to be, because he has a unique perspective on the angst that swirls around this franchise. In one sense, the Cowboys remain the most relevant franchise in the NFL because of their popularity. In the other, more meaningful sense – the kind that gets hung in stadium rafters – the Cowboys haven't been truly relevant in several generations. [Related: Cowboys' Dak Prescott: 'Legacy be damned; I want to win a championship'] Prescott is now painfully aware of that on his own behalf, just as he was for Romo. Just as everyone associated with the organization is consistently reminded that the dust has been collecting on those five Lombardi Trophies for quite some time. That's the burden of playing for a legacy franchise. Romo's career, by most standards, was an unmitigated success. He rose from being an undrafted free agent to start 133 games for the Cowboys, making $127 million in career earnings. He holds the franchise records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. He was named to four Pro Bowls and earned one second-team All-Pro nod. But his 2-4 playoff record and failure to appear in a Super Bowl, much less win one, take precedence for a team that watched Roger Staubach win two and Troy Aikman another three. Does that sound at all familiar? It's eerie how much Prescott's career has started to mirror Romo's, from the humble beginnings to the two playoff wins and the lone second-team All-Pro selection. The comparison should get even wilder soon, as Prescott only needs 2,747 passing yards and 36 passing touchdowns to pass Romo and sit atop the Cowboys' all-time passing records. Those are accomplishments he could manage as soon as this fall, or at least by 2026. Will any of that satisfy the critics if it happens without a Super Bowl championship? Of course not. Not only is that the standard in Dallas, but it's the demand placed on a franchise that is despised by anyone who isn't a fan. Maybe that's not fair for a guy with a legitimately inspiring story, growing from a fourth-round draft pick into a franchise cornerstone and an All-Pro player. To quote Don Draper, that's what the money's for. It won't always be so ruthless. People have warmed to Romo's legacy over time, and most acknowledge now that he was a far better player than he often got credit for when he was trying to shoulder the hopes and dreams of America's Team. But people are also kinder to Romo now because it's no longer his responsibility to deliver Dallas back to the mountaintop. Teenagers who go on to become NFL stars are no longer living and dying with Romo's game day decisions. That falls on Prescott for the foreseeable future. And he's right. The best way to secure his legacy, or to silence the debate about it, would be to win the championship that's eluded the Cowboys for so long. David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team's official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback's time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_ . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily. recommended Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kern County leaders address 2024 mistakes, share changes in messaging for 2026 Midterm election
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — If you think it's too early to talk about the 2026 Midterm Election, it's not — at least not for our local electeds. Kern County Democrats returned from a weekend in Anaheim, meeting with fellow party leaders and voters to discuss directions for the 2026 Midterms. It was a weekend of passion and like-mindedness at the California Democratic Party State Convention in Orange County. It was a convention of 4,000 Democrats, but why should all voters care? This convention sets the stage for 2026 — who may be running and what issues, like the economy, could be front and center. 'Will you stand up to Donald Trump?' said an energetic Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), one of the speakers over the weekend. In an interview with 17 News reflecting on the convention, Kern Democratic Party Chair Christian Romo stated, 'This go around was really a come to Jesus moment. We came together not just as friends, but also to say, what did we do wrong?' The mass gathering was a reflection on the 2024 Presidential Election and a determined gearing up for the 2026 Midterm Election. At center stage, a change in messaging. 'And how do we drive down the costs while also making sure that the deficit doesn't go higher? And making sure that all Californians have the right to thrive,' Romo noted. Civil rights activist and local Democratic leader Dolores Huerta agreed. 'Sometimes people voted and not because of the political party, but they voted on these what we call the cultural issues,' she began. 'You have to think about your bread-and-butter issues, the things that are going to affect your family economically, things that are going to affect your family when it comes to their health. [The focus is] not whether someone wants to have an abortion, not whether somebody happens to be gay or transgender. These are the important issues. Economic issues are the important issues.' Christian Romo and Dolores Huerta both said messaging in 2024 — like on healthcare and abortion — may not have appealed to the local voter base, albeit important topics nationally. Take the always-contentious, could-go-either-way 22nd Congressional District race. David Valadao, the Republican incumbent, has been reelected time and time again, despite the majority Latino, Democratic leaning district he represents. Democratic challenger Rudy Salas has been unsuccessful twice in a row. 'And we lost it by a lot,' Romo said of that race's 2024 results. 'That's no secret about that.' Democrats have not ruled out Salas for a third run. 'We'll see what Mr. Rudy Salas decides to do, and then we'll go from there,' Huerta said when asked about the race. 'All I can say about CD-22 is there's no permanent enemies in politics and there's no permanent friends. So, anything's at play,' Romo hinted. Here's where the more progressive members of the party come into play. Like Randy Villegas, the only candidate so far to have announced a run against Valadao. JH: Neel Sannappa a senior organizer with the progressive Working Families Party says change is coming — perhaps more unity between the progressives and moderates of the party. '[The convention] was an acknowledgment of the fact that the party has gone kind of far away from the working class, kind of far away from the base,' said Sannappa. 'And we have a different view of how to approach politics. We want to stay with working families.' Of party unity heading into the election, especially as Democrats will have to make endorsements of candidates, Sannappa stated, 'My goal right now is to bring the party together and to make sure that we can rally behind similar candidates and not have such an internal fight.' Seats Democrats will have to defend in 2026 include Bakersfield City Council Ward 1, held by Eric Arias, as well as Ward 7, held by Manpreet Kaur. State Senator Melissa Hurtado has filed an intent to run for reelection in 2026. 'Obviously, the Central Valley's always in play. It's a very moderate district, although solidly Dem for CD-22 and city and state and assembly races,' Romo explained of voter demographics. 'It's still a tossup because it's very moderate. It's very conservative leaning and very Latino.' The 2026 primary will be on June 2nd. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
