The famed pugilist was slated to argue why he needed protection from 25-year-old Daniel Leonard in a Santa Monica courtroom on Monday, but records obtained by The California Post show he did not appear, which caused a judge to throw out the case.
Daniel did not show up to the scheduled proceedings either, according to the records.
Sugar Ray Leonard and Daniel Ray Leonard at the 2024 CHLA Gala held at the L.A. Live Event Deck on October 5, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Variety via Getty Images
“The Court finds a Proof of Service, filed June 5, 2026, but no appearance by the Petitioner or the Respondent this date,” officials wrote in a minutes order. “The Court therefore dissolves the Temporary Restraining Orders and dismisses the case without prejudice for lack of prosecution.”
The development is surprising, considering Ray had just obtained a temporary restraining order against Daniel on May 20 after he alleged his boy was an addict, a thief and a “danger” to himself and his family.
Ray claimed in his application for the order that two incidents at his Pacific Palisades home sparked his need for protection.
Sugar Ray Leonard, Bernadette Robi and son Daniel Ray Leonard arrive at the annual Brent Shapiro Foundation For Alcohol and Drug Prevention Summer Spectacular at a Private Residence on September 9, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. WireImage
The first, Ray wrote, occurred on May 19, when he claimed he and Daniel got into “a physical altercation where he pushed me and got ugly!”
The next, according to Ray, came a day later, when Daniel allegedly violated an emergency protection order by showing up at his dad’s home.
“[Daniel’s] behavior has become so cold!” Ray wrote in his May 20 filing. “I love my son but he has become a danger not only himself but to his family! My wife is extremely afraid along with me daughter Camille!”
“His behavior has gotten worse every day,” Ray added. “We haven’t had a day of peace in 9 years which is the reality of his addiction! Scared for my family!”
No reason for the Leonards’ no shows on Monday has been given — neither Ray nor Daniel had attorneys listed on file.
Bloom “is an Irish Jew” who “endures not only the private pain of his wife’s unfaithfulness but the casual, corrosive antisemitism of his fellow citizens.”
Yet “Ireland hasn’t progressed since Joyce wrote ‘Ulysses’ — it has regressed,” as antisemitism “has intensified.”
The country’s become “a cold house for Jews” in the wake of the “Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.”
A century ago, “Leopold Bloom was insulted and threatened, but Jews could at least still freely wander the streets of Dublin.”
Today, “he would be advised not to try.”
Schools beat: A Crazy Way To ‘Ensure Safety’
A House bill mandates 70% of some $243.6 million in federal “school safety” funding get spent on mental-health programs, laments City Journal’s Carolyn D. Gorman, yet “no evidence” suggests schools “can treat mental-health conditions” well or bolster safety.
“Most school-based mental-health programs flag kids with even slight distress for potential intervention and push them” toward diagnoses.
Yet one review found “mental-health screening produces up to 90 percent false positives.” Other research shows these “programs have not made students any safer.” Plus, “much of the school-based mental-health enterprise” is mere “ideology.”
“Youth mental health matters,” but having “school counselors and psychologists” respond to “genuine safety challenges” is as foolish as having “social workers respond to 911 calls for homeless adults with untreated serious mental illness.”
Mideast beat: Trump Abandons Iranian People
This Iran deal leaves much undecided, but “one key aspect is now crystal clear: The American agreement with Iran completely abandons the Iranian people,” fumes Elliot Abrams at National Review.
In just months, President Trump went from posting “HELP IS ON ITS WAY” to saying “I never cared about regime change.”
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Warns Abrams, it’s another slap in the face of Iranians that Trump now labels “the people who murdered thousands of their fellow citizens in cold blood a few months ago,” as “rational.”
Washington has “limited ability to help Iranians achieve democracy,” but that didn’t’ oblige Trump to “dismiss their aspirations disdainfully”: Let them “know we understand and support their struggle for basic human rights.”
Art critic: David Hockney RIP
“Love of freedom” was the motive force that “clearly animated” the “life and art” of British painter David Hockney, who died last Thursday aged 88, mourns Spiked’s Jacob Reynolds, recalling how his teen self was enamored of Hockney’s “enormous, vivacious installations.”
The “young Hockney” was a “rebel,” “very clearly a man of the 1960s counterculture,” yet while much of the “artworld very quickly embraced kitsch, parody and irony, Hockney didn’t.”
He “never sought to disdain or deconstruct” the real world”; his “art was modern but not postmodern.”
A lifelong smoker, Hockney loathed “Britain’s nanny state,” and “mastered” the “iPad as an artistic device” in his 70s, while managing to “remain almost unremarkably, avuncularly British.”
From the right: Becerra’s Disqualifying Legacy
“A staggering 450,000 migrant children disappeared under President Biden’s tenure,” thunders The Washington Times Editorial Board; the feds are now “investigating reports where some of these kids claim that they were raped 6[00] to 700 times.”
As Health and Human Services secretary, Xavier Becerra “oversaw the migrant sponsor program that let hundreds of thousands of children disappear” — some into “the custody of sexual predators and human traffickers,” or “are probably being trafficked in the sanctuary state of California,” where Becerra is now running for governor.
“The New York Times reported in 2023 that Mr. Biden’s White House and HHS were repeatedly alerted to signs that children were being placed with exploitative sponsors,” and worse “detailed at least five HHS staff members who filed complaints at the time and were pushed out of their jobs after raising concerns about child safety,” yet Becerra calls it all a “MAGA hoax.”
Thousand Oaks may be one step closer to getting something residents have debated for generations: a real downtown.
City officials are pushing a sweeping blueprint to bulldoze sections of the city’s quiet Civic Arts Plaza and replace it with a bustling, pedestrian-friendly downtown district.
The grand vision includes a 142-room, seven-story boutique hotel, mixed-use apartment complexes rising up to seven stories tall, a walkable area with retail and restaurants, a revamped City Hall, and a brand new outdoor amphitheater.
Plans redesigning the 5.33 acres also call for affordable housing, a public park plaza, children’s play areas, and a splash pad.
To make way for the urban style “Main Street,” developers also want permission to axe 53 mature local trees — including the city’s highly protected, signature oak trees.
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Current view of the proposed site for City Hall, including the area where the playground is to be placed. Andy Johnstone for CA PostPlayground area in front of City Hall.
The city’s planning commission recently green lit a key zoning change in a 4-1 vote, paving the way for the City Council to make a final decision later this month. If passed, construction would kick off in 2027, permanently transforming the suburban landscape by 2032.
But everyone is excited about it.
Entry to new City Hall public counter.Current view of City Hall. Andy Johnstone for CA Post
The proposal has sparked a spirited debate during public discussions and online, with some residents praising the idea of creating a lively city center while others don’t think the project fits the Thousand Oaks’ suburban character.
On Instagram, a viral post breaking down the project sparked a massive wave of outrage from residents. “We do NOT want a ‘downtown.’ We like our SMALL town. We will continue to fight this,” one person commented.
Proposed site of amphitheater. Andy Johnstone for CA PostA rendering of the outdoor amphitheater. City of Thousand Oaks
“Seven story tall buildings?!!! Are they insane?! Heck NO,” wrote another disgruntled resident.
“If people living in and around Thousand Oaks wanted a downtown they would have moved to downtown LA. They moved to Thousand Oaks for a reason,” a furious commentator wrote. The sentiment was widely echoed.
The current site of the potential “Main Street.” Andy Johnstone for CA PostView of new “Main Street” looking east.
Concerns related to traffic and safety were also a major flashpoint.
Proponents called it a “forward looking investment” that would “strengthen the local economy,” and Deputy City Manager of Thousand Oaks Akbar Alikhan likened it to “creating the community living room.”
The fate of the new downtown now rests with the Thousand Oaks City Council, which will meet June 23.
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Married Alabama ice cream shop owners are facing charges after they ripped into a customer in a caught-on-camera confrontation over a one-star review he left for their business.
Daniel Smit was confronted by The Local Scoop owners Malary and Ryan Goldman in a McDonald’s parking lot in Bay Minette three months after he complained online that the shop’s workers screwed up his order, according to reports.
“I am mad because I have busted my ass at something and you think you’re gonna run it into the ground,” an incensed Malary fumed at Smit, who was recording the exchange on his phone on June 7, WEAR News reported.
The confrontation took place earlier this month. Daniel Smitt / Facebook
Malary continued her tirade against Smit as the two exchanged verbal jabs about each other’s appearance and financial situation in the nearly 15-minute video.
Then she issued a warning.
“Do not continue to involve yourself in my business, I will absolutely do something,” she said.
Eventually, Malary’s husband, Ryan, reached the scene and also laid into Smit.
Smit, a DoorDash driver, said when he left the review in March, he didn’t think twice about it until he and Malary ran into each other at a stoplight, according to WALA.
The couple was arrested following the incident. Daniel Smitt / Facebook
Smit agreed to meet Malary at the parking lot after he dropped off an order, sparking the angry encounter.
At one point, Smit claimed his phone was knocked out of his hand.
Malary was hit with harassment and criminal mischief charges while her husband was charged with harassment, according to WEAR.
But both sides appeared ready to bury the hatchet in recent days with Malary serving up an apology.
The issue began after a one-star review was left. Daniel Smitt / Facebook
“I apologize to Daniel Smit, to my family and to those in the city I love,” Malary said in a statement to WKRG.
“I am embarrassed with how I acted. I let something get to me that I should have overlooked, and it built over time until the incident that took place a few days ago. While I cannot take it back, I can reflect on it and learn from it.”
She also insisted personal information about her was aired out online.
“There are a lot of layers to this, not that it is a defense for what I said, but it is not just as simple as a post made about my business,” she said.
Smit said on Facebook he wanted the charges dropped Monday, claiming, “Social justice has prevailed, and I believe there is no need to take this any further.”
“I am ashamed of my actions,” Smit told WKRG. “So, I apologize to Miss Goldman if I made her mad or whatever. At the end of the day, we are all going to move on from this.”
A missing swimmer was discovered dead in a Georgia lake long rumored to be haunted, according to authorities and reports.
Terrell Shelton, 21, vanished in Lake Lanier off the shore of Robinson Park on Saturday afternoon, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
Terrell Shelton, 21, was discovered dead after vanishing while swimming with friends on Lake Lanier. GoFundMe
Shelton was swimming to an island with friends when he suddenly disappeared from their view, police said, according to People.
“When the friends looked back, they could no longer see him and believed he had gone underwater and did not resurface,” the department said in a statement.
Hours later, Shelton’s body was discovered in roughly 14 feet of water just before midnight on Saturday and recovered from the lake with a remotely operated vehicle, cops said.
Shelton’s sister, Calista Shelton, told WCBTV she was shocked that her brother — whom she described as a “good swimmer” — could have disappeared so quickly.
“Honestly, I was shaking, I was freaking out. My brother is a good swimmer. How could this happen?” Calista Shelton told the outlet. “I don’t know what could have happened with the timeframe of him going to that island.”
Since 1994, over 200 people have died in the Lake Lanier waters, with locals long suggesting the lake is haunted. Getty Images
The heartbroken sister asked in a Facebook tribute for the public to pray for Shelton’s family and friends.
“He had so much life ahead of him. He was a son, a brother, a partner, a friend, and someone who was deeply loved by so many people. The pain of losing him so suddenly is impossible to put into words,” Calista said.
“Terrell, I wish I had more time with you,” she continued. “I wish we could have one more conversation, one more laugh, one more memory. You will always be my brother, and I will carry you with me for the rest of my life.”
“Please keep our family, his boyfriend, and everyone who loved him in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate this devastating loss.”
A GoFundMe fundraiser for the 21-year-old’s funeral and memorial expenses has raised over $2,000 of the family’s $14,000 goal.
Shelton’s death remains under investigation. GoFundMe
Lake Lanier was built in the 1950s over submerged towns, forests, and cemeteries — and has been a location for eerie scenes in the Netflix drama “Ozark,” CNN previously reported.
Since 1994, over 200 people have died in the lake’s waters, with locals long suggesting the manmade lake is haunted.
In May 2025, father of five and triathlete Dustin Valencia, 43, vanished while kayaking on Lake Lanier.
Residents of two of Israel’s northern neighbors — Syria and Lebanon — are turning thumbs down on the terrorist group Hezbollah and becoming more favorable to making peace with Israel, new surveys claim.
In both nations, clear majorities now regard Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s role as harmful to their own security. Large shares consider eventual peace with Israel likely, and the post-war governments in Damascus and Beirut command broad approval ratings, according to the polls conducted by the Council for a Secure America.
A Hezbollah flag seen in a pile of rubble at the site of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026 REUTERS
The surveys found that 68% of Syrians describe Hezbollah’s involvement there as negative — 52% “very negative” — versus only 6% who view it positively and 26% who were unsure.
Meanwhile, 57% of Syrians believe peace with Israel is likely in the future, versus 16% who think it unlikely and the remaining 27% unsure.
“Roughly eighteen months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syrians have rendered a clear verdict on the militia that helped keep that regime in power,” said Jennifer Sutton, executive director of the Council for a Secure America.
“More than two-thirds now call Hezbollah’s involvement in their country harmful, a majority would back a formal security arrangement with Israel, and most expect peace between the two nations in the years ahead,” Sutton said. “A Syrian public saying such things on the record would have been unthinkable a few years ago.”
A 53% majority would support the new Syrian government’s signing a security arrangement with Israel, with only 11% opposed while 37% gave no answer.
A displaced woman hanging a Hezbollah and Iranian flag from her vehicle in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
In Lebanon, 59% of residents said Hezbollah’s military presence has a negative impact on the country’s security, against just 11% who viewed it as positive with the remaining 40% unsure.
For the first time in the group’s ongoing tracking, more Lebanese residents support engagement with Israel than oppose it.
A 41% plurality now considers eventual peace between Israel and Lebanon likely, versus 27% who think it unlikely and the rest unsure.
A photo of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli strike seen on June 15, 2026. WAEL HAMZEH/EPA/Shutterstock
In a major development, 58% of respondents support President Joseph Aoun’s efforts to strengthen the Lebanese Army and negotiate Hezbollah’s disarmament, so that all armed forces operate under government authority.
Israel has been fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon in response to attacks on the Jewish state.
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“For years the conventional wisdom held that Lebanese society was immovably opposed to any relationship with Israel. This data demolishes that assumption,” Sutton said.
Smoke rising from an Israeli strike in the village of Kfar Tibnit in Lebanon on June 14, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
Support for a security arrangement with Israel plummeted from 64% in January to 53% in June, and the share viewing the US role in Syria’s political and economic affairs positively has fallen from 65% to 51% over the same period, though it still outweighs the 22% who view it negatively.
Both declines are concentrated among Syrian residents under the age of 45.
“There has been some cooling since January, and it is real,” Sutton said. “But openness to Israel and to an American role remains the majority position in Syria today. The trajectory of the past year is the story that matters.”
The Council for Secure America is a pro-energy group that supports strong US-Israel ties and the Abraham Accords. It also is a cheerleader for American energy independence.
The findings are drawn from two surveys conducted in Arabic by YouGov via online panel for a Council for a Secure America from May 26-June 1.
The surveys interviewed 252 Syrian adults and 260 Lebanese adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points for both surveys.
The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance (TRAA) sued two Southern California refineries this month in the wake of the Garden Grove chemical leak that forced nearly 50,000 residents to evacuate.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against the Torrance and Wilmington refineries, seeks safety records under the California Public Records Act.
“Garden Grove … is not the only city in Southern California harboring a potential ticking time bomb when it comes to a mass casualty event arising from a toxic industrial chemical tank,” TRAA said in a statement.
TRAA noted the two facilities are the only refineries in California that use hydrogen fluoride (HF/MHF) to produce high-octane gasoline, warning that both the transportation and storage of the highly toxic chemical pose an ongoing threat to nearby communities.
Refinery in Los Angeles (Wilmington) Bloomberg via Getty ImagesRefinery in Torrance Bloomberg via Getty Images
The California Public Records Act requires government records to be “disclosed to the public, upon request, unless there are privacy and/or public safety exemptions which would prevent doing so.”
The Torrance refinery has had a history of bad accidents. In 2015, an explosion led to four workers being injured while triggering a 1.7 magnitude earthquake in the surrounding areas. A 40-ton piece of debris was also blasted and landed just five feet away from a tank containing thousands of pounds of modified hydrofluoric acid (corrosive liquid that dissolves glass and burns skin).
In 1979, an explosion resulted in three deaths and forced neighborhood evacuations.
Protesters chant and hold signs in front of the Torrance refinery in early February 2026 Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
President Donald Trump has announced that Washington and Tehran have signed an agreement with two pillars: reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring the Islamic Republic cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
While the details, including the sequencing of concessions such as sanctions relief, are yet to be publicized, the Iranian people remain absent from the agenda.
That is a problem.
The true path to lasting regional stability runs through the Iranian people — the regime’s primary existential threat and the Middle East’s largest anti-Islamist and most pro-American and pro-Israeli population.
Unsurprisingly, Tehran’s propaganda machine is already spinning the narrative, declaring victory and claiming it was able to “impose its will on” the United States.
But Washington’s failure to publicize the deal means many Iranians are hearing only the regime’s side of the story.
With restrictions from Iran’s longest internet blackout beginning to ease, Trump now has an opportunity to speak directly to the millions of Iranians who viewed the latest conflict as a campaign against their oppressors.
The Tehran regime has suffered a heavy blow, with numerous senior military figures eliminated and its missile infrastructure decimated.
The Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the latest conflict, and officials kept his funeral on hold for more than four months amid fears over the security situation.
The tyrant’s death marked a moment millions of Iranians, myself among them, had waited nearly four decades to celebrate.
As the news spread, anti-regime chants echoed from rooftops while men and women danced and set off fireworks in cities across the country, including Khamenei’s hometown of Mashhad.
Those of us in the diaspora rejoiced from afar.
Trump broke away from his predecessors when he spoke directly to the people of Iran on the first day of the conflict, saying “the hour of your freedom is at hand.”
“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force,” he added.
Trump and CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper both reiterated that while it was not safe for Iranians to mobilize as military operations were ongoing, there would come “a clear signal” from Washington when it was time to “take control of your government.”
But that call never came.
So what happens now?
Even if Tehran holds up its end of the bargain and halts its attacks against the Strait of Hormuz, and even if the U.S. naval blockade is removed, it is still imperative for Iran not to get sanctions relief or repatriate its oil revenues.
Since the April ceasefire, the increasingly paranoid Islamic Republic has instituted hundreds of checkpoints that have become extrajudicial killing zones for ordinary Iranians, alongside public hangings of dissidents and mass arrests.
Any economic relief granted to the regime inevitably fuels its war against the Iranian people.
Washington must complement any deal with maximum support to the millions of Iranians the regime has held hostage.
That means satellite connectivity as a lasting solution to Tehran’s internet blackouts — critically needed to facilitate a messaging campaign to capitalize on the rising momentum against the regime’s repression apparatus.
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The Islamic Republic and the Iranian people are not the same.
President Trump has said so in the past, and he is right.
Now is the time for him to remind Iranians that Washington still knows the difference.
Janatan Sayeh, born and raised in Tehran, is the Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s regional malign influence.
