Late ballots knock Pratt out of LA runoff; Trump draws spotlight at NBA Finals
Los Angeles looked headed for a celebrity-versus-incumbent showdown. But days of ballot counting flipped the race, setting up a very different fight for City Hall.
Plus, Apple promises a much smarter Siri after years of watching rivals dominate the AI space. The question now is whether the upgrade is enough to change the perception that Apple is simply playing catch-up.
And President Donald Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. The crowd made its feelings known, and one of the biggest nights in New York sports took on a political edge.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Nithya Raman advances to face Karen Bass in LA mayoral runoff
After trailing on election night, City Council member Nithya Raman has surged into second place, securing a spot in November’s mayoral runoff. The turnaround happened as thousands of mail ballots were counted in the days since last week’s primary.
Under California’s election system, the top two finishers advance to the November election, regardless of party.
Raman, a progressive city council member, passed former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt over the weekend, further expanding her lead in the latest count.
Pratt had held second place on election night and quickly became a national political story, drawing attention from conservatives and even from President Donald Trump.
As Pratt’s lead shrank, both he and Trump questioned the slow count. Trump claimed, without evidence, that the election was being rigged, while election officials noted that California routinely takes days to process mail ballots.
Raman will now face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November.
Bass finished first in the primary but failed to secure an outright majority, triggering the first mayoral runoff featuring an incumbent Los Angeles mayor in more than two decades.
Judge blocks Trump policy raising worker Visa fee to $100K, calling it unlawful
A federal judge has struck down one of Trump’s biggest attempts to curb legal immigration, ruling his $100,000 fee on skilled-worker visas was illegal. The ruling targets a Trump policy announced last September that raised the cost of obtaining a new H-1B visa from a few thousand dollars to $100,000.
The H-1B program is widely used by technology companies, hospitals, universities and other employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers.
A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled the administration exceeded its authority, finding the fee functioned as a tax that Congress never approved.
A coalition of 20 states challenged the policy, arguing it would worsen worker shortages in fields including health care, research and education. Trump defended the fee when he announced it, saying it would encourage employers to hire more American workers.
Judge Leo Sorokin rejected the administration’s argument that the fee was simply a regulatory payment. The judge also cited a recent Supreme Court ruling that blocked Trump’s tariff policy, writing that presidents cannot impose taxes or penalties without congressional authorization.
The White House said it will appeal.
“President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens — he determines — that is not in America’s best interests, and that is exactly what he did,” a spokesperson told Straight Arrow.
Trump formally picks Blanche for attorney general, setting up Senate confirmation fight
The president has made it official: he wants his former personal defense lawyer to lead the Justice Department.
The White House officially forwarded Todd Blanche’s nomination to the Senate on Monday, aiming to appoint him as permanent attorney general.
Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April. Before joining the administration, Blanche represented Trump in several high-profile criminal cases, including the New York business-fraud trial.
The president first signaled the move last week.
Monday’s filing makes it official and sets the stage for a Senate confirmation battle.
Some Republicans have already voiced concerns. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he has not decided whether to support Blanche and suggested his vote could hinge on how Blanche addresses the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
During his short tenure leading the department, Blanche has overseen a series of high-profile investigations and prosecutions involving some of Trump’s most prominent critics. That includes a case against former FBI Director James Comey over a social media post showing seashells arranged to spell “86-47.”
The Justice Department has also pursued cases against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and other Trump adversaries. Blanche has defended the department’s actions and says his priority is to carry out the president’s agenda while focusing on crime, public safety and illegal immigration.
OpenAI files for IPO, eyes public market
The company that helped kick off the AI boom is taking its first step toward Wall Street. OpenAI has confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering, giving the company the option to go public after federal regulators review the filing.
The company announced the filing Monday but made clear a stock market debut is not imminent.
In a post on its website, OpenAI said it has not decided on timing and added that some of its plans may be easier to pursue as a private company.
The move marks the latest milestone for CEO SAM Altman’s company, which helped bring artificial intelligence into the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. It also comes just a week after rival Anthropic filed confidentially for its IPO, setting up a race between two of the biggest names in AI.
The competition doesn’t stop there. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is also preparing to go public, with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google listed as AI competitors in its filing.
OpenAI is now valued at more than $850 billion, making it among the most valuable private companies in the world.
Apple unveils new Siri AI
Apple has revealed its most significant AI initiative to date, believing that a more intelligent Siri will enable it to compete more effectively.
At its worldwide developers conference, Apple announced a major overhaul of Siri, transforming the digital assistant into a more conversational AI tool capable of handling complex tasks and working across apps and devices.
Apple showed Siri researching concert tickets, helping plan events, finding information in emails and texts and answering follow-up questions more naturally.
The company is also weaving AI more deeply into its software, adding new tools for search, photos, Safari and other apps.
“At Apple, we believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable. Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing as well as private cloud compute, which ensures your data is not stored or accessible to Apple or anyone else. Your data is only used to execute your request, and outside experts can continue to verify this promise at any time.”
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering
Monday’s event also carried extra significance for Apple.
It was the final worldwide developer conference for CEO Tim Cook, who is set to step down later this year after more than a decade at the helm of the company.
Apple said the new Siri AI will begin rolling out later this year.
Investors appeared underwhelmed by the announcements, with shares falling during Monday’s event as the company enters what some analysts call a “prove it” phase for its AI strategy.
Trump draws spotlight at NBA Finals Game 3
It was billed as the largest sporting event in New York in decades. The New York Knicks hosted the San Antonio Spurs in a home game of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.
Trump, as expected, attended the game.
Security was extremely strict, and fans were advised to arrive several hours early to navigate the intense security procedures. The Secret Service screened everyone entering the arena.
The president, accompanied by his granddaughter, was seen saluting the flag from his seat in a suite. Many fans booed the president as he appeared on the Jumbotron during the national anthem, though there was a smattering of cheers mixed in.
At halftime, Trump, who was invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, headed down to the court. Fans used their cell phones to take pictures and videos of him. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also stopped by for a conversation.
As for the game, it wasn’t a great night for the president’s team. The Knicks fell to the Spurs, 115-111, as Victor Wembanyama scored 32 points. New York still leads the series two games to one, with Game 4 back at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
More from Straight Arrow:
Can every infection become a chronic disease?
A decade ago, Ziyad Al-Aly would have dismissed the idea that a routine viral infection could leave someone chronically ill months or years later.
For much of modern medicine, infectious diseases and chronic illnesses occupied largely separate domains. Infections like influenza or COVID-19 were acute events; people became sick, recovered and moved on. Chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease followed a different path altogether.
“I used to think that a lot of the acute infections are inconsequential in the long term,” said Al-Aly, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.
Today, he sees things differently.
“The pandemic sort of proved this to be a wrong model of thinking,” he said.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
