The Brief

Egg prices continue to soar due to the bird flu outbreak, leading to drastic measures, such as restaurants adding a 50-cent surcharge per egg and grocery stores imposing rationing to offset shortages.

When the FDA announced a $1 billion plan earlier this week to tackle the crisis, including boosting egg imports and vaccinating chickens, it was seen by many as a crucial move.

But Richard Williams, co-owner of the Village Bakery and Cafe in Atwater Village, says it won’t be enough to help businesses like his, which rely heavily on eggs.

“ We just can't sustain it much longer. It is getting incredibly difficult,” Williams said.

Running at a loss

The eatery uses a lot of eggs in its baked goods and affordable breakfast and lunch items, such as brioche breakfast sandwich and breakfast burritos.

When I interviewed him back in January as egg prices began surging, he told me that it was already eating into profits — when a customer ordered an egg dish, the business didn't make any money at all.

Now, just a few months later, he says it’s cutting even deeper. “We are running at a loss because everything we make has eggs," he said. “It’s a gigantic issue for us."

He said they’ve gone to great lengths to limit the bakery’s egg use, including removing certain items from the menu and asking employees not to eat them.

But prices continue to rise. He used the example of a recent egg order he placed for the bakery. The cost of four cases of eggs was $700, or roughly $1 per egg. Williams said that last year, the cost per egg was around 20 cents.

What would help?

As for the plan announced by the FDA, Williams doesn’t feel the situation will improve quickly enough.

He says the only real solution is for the government to provide emergency cash relief to help restaurants stay in business, similar to what was done during the pandemic.

“ That's the only solution because our costs are through the roof,” Willams said.

But he has “zero faith” that anything can be done.

“ At this point, I can't imagine any change in the situation; I can only see it worsening,” he said. “ There is no infrastructure and nothing to counter this. So it's only going to get much worse.”

He said wryly: "If you know anyone who wants to buy a bakery, let me know. I'm dead serious."

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Jude Bellingham scored two goals 98 seconds apart, Harry Kane converted a penalty when England was down to 10 men, and the Three Lions handed Mexico its first World Cup loss at Estadio Azteca, a wild 3-2 victory on Sunday night to reach the quarterfinals.

England moves on to face Norway on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida, for a spot in the semifinals.

Bellingham stunned the crowd of more than 80,000 at a venue where Mexico was unbeaten in 10 World Cup matches, including three this year, when he scored on a header in the 36th minute and again in the 38th on a pass from Kane.

Julián Quiñones scored for El Tri in the 42nd minute, and the game appeared to turn in Mexico’s favor when England’s Jarell Quansah was sent off in the 54th for a dangerous foul on Jesús Gallardo.

But England was awarded a penalty for a challenge by Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, and Kane converted for his sixth goal of this tournament and 14th of his World Cup career, matching Gerd Müller of West Germany for fifth on the scoring list. Kane has six goals in this tournament, one behind Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.

Kane then committed a foul that made him the first player since at least 1966 to score and concede a penalty in a World Cup game. Raúl Jiménez converted the kick with a stutter-step approach to move El Tri within 3-2.

Mexico attacked relentlessly over the final 21 minutes, plus 11 minutes of stoppage time, but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and England's defenders held steady.

Mexico has not reached the quarterfinals since hosting in 1986. Since then, it has lost in the round of 16 eight times, failed to advance past the group stage in 2022 and was disqualified from the 1990 tournament.

Billy Gene Mills, one of the first Black politicians elected to the L.A. City Council, died on June 27 in his Leimert Park home. He was 96.

In a social media post, his son James Edward Mills wrote that his father had been struggling with failing health for years.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Mills "helped shape the arc of justice and opportunity in our city."

Mills was the first Black American to graduate from UCLA Law School in 1954 and went on to work as a civil rights attorney.

Los Angeles City Council members Gilbert Lindsay (left), Billy Mills (second from left) and Tom Bradley (second from right), pose for a photo with two unidentified men in City Hall council chambers around 1965.

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He was elected to the city council in 1963, representing District 8, and served until 1974. Mills was one of the first three Black men, along with Tom Bradley and Gilbert Lindsay, to join the city council.

While on the council, Mills “led the city to renewed unity and cooperation after the tumultuous Watts Riots,” UCLA wrote in a statement that accompanied a Public Service Award given to him in 2003. His tenure, UCLA noted, saw the installation of paved alleys and streetlights throughout South Los Angeles for the first time.

In 1974, Mills was appointed as a judge to the Los Angeles Superior Court by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.

Mills is survived by five children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

SEATTLE — Folarin Balogun, the star striker of the U.S. men's national soccer team, is eligible to play in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 game against Belgium on Monday.

In an unusual move, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced Sunday that it would suspend Balogun's one-game red card ban for a probationary period of one year, allowing him to play in any remaining World Cup games.

In a brief statement, the committee did not give a reason for delaying the suspension. Balogun's probationary period will be revoked and the one-game suspension enforced if he commits "another infringement of a similar nature and gravity," FIFA said.

Balogun received the red card last Wednesday during the 2-0 U.S. victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 match. He had stepped on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemović as the two tangled while going after the ball.

The main referee initially declined to call any foul on the play, but after a replay review of slow-motion video and stills, a video referee recommended a red card. Afterward, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino criticized the decision to grant a red, calling the contact "a normal action in football that happened by accident."

U.S. Soccer had not filed a formal appeal. But a spokesperson told reporters Sunday that the organization had been "engaged" with FIFA during the deliberations.

In a statement, U.S. Soccer said it would accept the decision and is pleased Balogun will be eligible to play. "Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans," the statement read.

"Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!" President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The team learned of the decision on Sunday morning while riding a bus to a training session in Seattle.

"I'm mostly just happy for him, seeing that smile on his face. He deserves to be playing in this game," said U.S. winger Christian Pulisic, who called the referee's decision to give Balogun a red card "extremely harsh."

The decision to delay a one-game red card suspension is highly unusual, although there had been precedent already at this World Cup. Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo received a three-game suspension last November for elbowing an opponent in a World Cup qualifying match. That suspension would have caused him to miss the first two games of the World Cup, but FIFA's Disciplinary Committee put the suspension on hold and allowed him to play.

It is unclear what factors may have led FIFA to allow Balogun to play.

Rules governing the use of VAR, or video assistant referee, say that slow-motion replay should only be used for "facts," such as the point of contact for physical fouls or handball calls, while normal-speed video should be used to judge the "intensity" of an offense.

However, on Wednesday, the video referee reviewed slow-motion footage and still images before recommending a red card.

Balogun's demeanor was notably calm and respectful after the controversial call. He shook hands with the referee after the game, and speaking to reporters on Friday, he said the contact had been unintentional but that he accepted the referee's decision.

"I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion," Balogun said. "There's still lots of people we're inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching. We have to show the correct way to handle things even when you think it's unjust."

On Sunday, Pulisic told reporters he was impressed by how his teammate had handled himself. "Good things happen to people like that. And he was so positive and all for the team, and it just feels right," Pulisic said.

Monday's Round of 16 match against Belgium is one of the biggest in the history of the U.S. men's national team. A win would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals, matching the deepest run by the American men in the modern era of the World Cup.

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The La Brea Tar Pits are heading into a multimillion-dollar renovation — that means the museum will have to close to the public for two years.

The history

Built in 1977, the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits has a special place in the hearts of Angelenos who’ve ever taken a field trip to see its massive mastodon skeletons or dire wolf skulls. Don’t worry — all that stuff is staying, said museum educator Kay Lai.

Why now?

“This museum, as beloved as it is, definitely needs that refresh. And I’m really excited for the next generation of kids that get to grow up and make new memories here with this new space,” Lai told LAist.

What’s going to be new?

Lai said the museum refresh will include a new focus on Zed, an 80% complete Columbian mammoth found at the site. With new outdoor classrooms and a 1-kilometer pedestrian pathway that will take visitors past excavation sites, the idea is to make research more visible to the public.