Local teen takes the top prize in 'spell-off'
After three days of competition, 18 total rounds and one nail-biting, rapid-fire"spell-off," the Scripps National Spelling Bee has crowned its champion: 14-year-old Shrey Parikh from Rancho Cucamonga.
This is the 101st year of the national spelling competition, and the third time it's been decided by a rapid-fire"spell-off" since the practice was introduced in 2021Parikh said he's excited to dive deeper into his other hobbies, especially tennis and math competitions. He will leave D.C. with $52,500 in cash and a slew of other perks, including hundreds of dollars' worth of reference works, flight credits and an astronaut meet-and-greet at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over the course of two hours on Thursday night, the pool of nine finalists dropped to two: Parikh and 12-year-old Ishaan Gupta from Jersey City, N.J.
After each nailed their eighth respective word, officials carried a sleek silver podium — with a buzzer on top — onto the stage, prompting huge gasps from the crowd. It was time for a spell-off.
"I was not excited at all, because to be honest regular spelling I feel like is a much better show of what spelling is meant to be," Parikh told reporters immediately after his win. "But I accepted the fact that there was going to be a spell-off, I calmed my mind, I got some water … and I just tried to take it all in stride and do the best I could.
" As the top two finalists, Ishaan Gupta and Shrey Parikh each had 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible. Parikh and Gupta each had 90 seconds at the buzzer, alone on the stage, to spell as many words correctly as possible.
Then, after a few minutes of careful counting, judges made it official: Parikh had crushed 32 words to Gupta's 25, ending in"cashaw" and setting a new spell-off record.
"Once I get the word I'm not really nervous anymore, because then it's all in my control," Parikh reflected from center stage at DAR Constitutional Hall, a grand concert hall a stone's throw from the White House. Parikh will leave D.C. with $52,500 in cash and a slew of other perks, including hundreds of dollars' worth of reference works, flight credits and an astronaut meet-and-greet at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
He's also coming into some considerable free time: The 8th grader estimates he's spent about five hours a day working on spelling in the past year alone. He's excited to dive deeper into his other hobbies, especially tennis and math competitions. And, even before his win set in, he knew what message he wanted it to send.
"I would say, definitely, just keep trying," he said. "Trying is the best thing you can do, and it's the most important thing you can do. "The bee returns to its D.C. roots This is the first time in 15 years that the competition has been held in D.C. , after a long stretch in Maryland and a year in Florida during COVID.
Organizers decided to return the competition to its roots in its 101st year, citing the"prestige and honor that D.C. brings to this experience for spellers," plus access to the city's free museums and monuments.
"We think it's a fitting national-level prize to be able to go and see the nation's capital, especially now as the country celebrates 250 years," said Executive Director Corrie Loeffler. A total of 247 competitors arrived in D.C. for"Bee Week" on Sunday, hailing from all 50 states and as far away as Guam. The competitors ranged from 9 to 15, though most were middle-school age. Several contestants and family members told NPR they appreciated the chance to explore D.C.
, with many planning to tour historical sites over the weekend. Though not everyone welcomed the change: 13-year-old Harini Jayakumar of Charlotte, N.C. — who made it to the semifinals of her third and final bee — said she enjoyed the hotel and overall experience more when it was in Maryland. Spellers who didn't make it to the final still packed into the 3,700-seat venue on Thursday, along with families, journalists and curious locals.
Outside the auditorium, they wandered through a timeline of the bee's history, admired a display-case trophy and posed for photos with two human-size, costume-clad bees. Maryland resident Christy Kim, 35, got hooked after attending a county-level spelling bee last month for fun, as she looked for free activities in the area. She even convinced her friend Maia Owens to travel two hours from Baltimore for the final, promising a wholesome evening. Owens was sold too.
Erika Minor, who helped sell t-shirts at the merchandise table, said the most popular item — stuffed bee plushies — sold out on the very first day of competition. Minor, a D.C. local, who works for the venue, hadn't paid much attention to the bee in the past, quickly saw what all the buzz was about.
"It is so cool and exciting to see, and also just to talk to, the participants and hear where they came from, and then also to peek my head … and just see how like the kids go through the process of remembering how to spell certain words," Minor said, adding that she will follow the contest in the future. All told, there were seven spelling rounds and one multiple-choice vocabulary round, which was added to the onstage competition in 2021 to put less emphasis on rote memorization.
Logan Bailey skips back to his seat — and the other contestants — after making it through another round at Thursday's final. The elimination-style spelling rounds are the bee's bread and butter. Dr. Jaques Bailly, who won in 1980 with the word"elucubrate," has been the head pronouncer for over two decades. He reads each speller one word per round.
Spellers have 90 seconds and the chance to ask for some basic information, like origin and definition. If they get it wrong, there is a heavy pause before the head judge, Mary Brooks, rings a bell,"You are pure joy," she told 12-year-old Logan Bailey, who had gotten the crowd on his side with his shocked, cheerful scamper back to his seat after each successful turn.
"As a speller, you absolutely brought happiness to everyone in this room. You come back.
" Attendees' stress and suspense was palpable with every letter — as were their relieved sighs and sympathetic gasps as each speller took the mic. "And you also don't know how to spell these words, so you don't know if they got it right or wrong," said Kim. "So when you hear that bell, it's very discouraging because you know how hard they worked for it.
But it's still great because the spellers are really encouraging to one another and the audience is really supportive of the spellers.
" All of the competition words come from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary. Some of Thursday's sounded too whimsical to be real — Kadohadachoquillai, hwyl, Quincke tube — while others sounded too straightforward to be true, like potto, Kolami and cere. The dreaded bell didn't ring until the third round, which saw four contestants eliminated in a matter of minutes.
By the end of the seventh round, only Parikh and Gupta were left — and their success in the subsequent round brought them to the dreaded spell-off. Harini Logan won the first spell-off, in 2022, by spelling 22 words in 90 seconds. In 2024, Bruhat Soma won with 29. After his win, Parikh said the word that stumped him the most the entire night was"Bhubaneswar," a city in India.
"I was 99% sure it had a 'B,' but always doubt creeps into your head, especially in the moment," he said. "I knew I just had to stick with my gut and stick with my instincts on that word. ""luge" in 1980 and"Purim" in 1983. More recent words have been less of the household variety.
In the last five years, we've seen: éclaircissement , abseil , psammophile , moorhen and Murraya . An L.A. County Superior Court judge has denied a company’s attempt to keep cancer patients’ lawsuits from going to trial. The company, called Sterigenics, uses a controversial chemical to sterilize medical equipment in Southeast L.A.
Sterigenics uses ethylene oxide, a flammable, colorless gas, to sterilize a broad range of medical devices—everything from syringes to heart valves. The gas has also been classified as a carcinogen. Public health experts say sustained exposure to ethylene oxide increases the risk of lymphoma, leukemia and stomach and breast cancer. Short-term inhalation of high amounts of ethylene oxide can cause headaches, fatigue, respiratory issues, nausea and other kinds of gastrointestinal distress.
Sterigenics runs two facilities in the city of Vernon. Neighboring Maywood residents sued Sterigenics in 2024. Most plaintiffs have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The rest have been diagnosed with leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, stomach cancer or other conditions.
The lawsuit is ongoing. Since 2024, other local residents and workers have filed at least eight additional lawsuits. On Thursday, those plaintiffs cleared a key hurdle that now paves the way for their case to potentially move forward to a trial or settlement. Residents say Sterigenics has knowingly exposed them and their neighbors to unsafe levels of ethylene oxide for decades, without warning them of the potential health risks.
Ethylene oxide is a colorless gas that’s central to the sterilization process — it’s also a known carcinogen. Residents say the company is responsible for their cancer diagnoses, or for the deaths of their loved ones. In the nearly two years that residents have been seeking relief from the court, dozens of other local residents have also filed lawsuits against the company, along with people who were diagnosed with cancer after working at a business that operates next to Sterigenics.
The company, which has denied wrongdoing, filed several motions for summary judgment against the plaintiffs — a legal tool that can be used to keep cases from going to trial. But after two days of back and forth in a downtown L.A. courthouse, Judge Lawrence Riff denied all the motions. Most of the plaintiffs in the original case have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The others — including a toddler and a man who fell ill when he was in high school — have been diagnosed with leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, stomach cancer or other conditions. The plaintiffs also include long-term Maywood residents who’ve lost a parent or spouse. All of them have lived less than a mile away from Sterigenics.
Court documents show that the Maywood residents want a jury trial and seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, funeral costs, lost wages, and the fear and “mental anguish” of being sick or watching a family member die.immediately notify regulators when their equipment breaks down;and pay additional penalties to deter the company from committing future violations. The group filed its lawsuit against Sterigenics and its affiliates in March 2024.
Other residents filed at least six more lawsuits later in 2024 and 2025. Two more local lawsuits have been filed against the company this year. Plaintiffs in these other cases seek similar compensation. Sterigenics runs two facilities in Vernon.
Every year, the company sterilizes more than 45 million medical supplies, including surgical kits, syringes, heart valves, and pacemakers. These products then go out to nearly 100 healthcare manufacturers.located five miles southeast of downtown L.A. Maywood is an adjoining city with more than 23,000 residents, most of whom are Latino and working class. At the hearings this week, attorneys for Sterigenics and its parent company, Sotera Health, insisted there’s not enough ethylene oxide flowing in the neighborhood to cause cancer.
According to Judge Riff, the methodology of an expert Sterigenics relied on was “not sufficiently reasoned,” in part because her assessment of ethylene oxide emissions in the area surrounding the facility did not account for changes over multiple decades. In total, the budget is 2.4% higher than the countywide transportation agency’s previous one.
Here are key takeaways from the budget: The biggest ticket item for the 2027 fiscal year is operating and maintaining the Metro system, which will cost the agency around $3 billion. An additional $2 billion will be used to expand the system, including improvements to the G Line bus rapid transit, as well as construction of new bus projects from North Hollywood to Pasadena and along Vermont Avenue.
The agency allocated more than $680 million on construction of the ongoing extension of the D Line. The second and third phases of that extension are due to open next year. Metro said it received “record-breaking levels” of engagement from the public that indicated the community wanted resources directed to safety, cleanliness and reliability of the system. Though the approved budget is balanced, Metro staff in a report highlighted several economic uncertainties that “directly impact” the agency’s “primary revenue sources.
” Those include slowing sales tax growth and lessened consumer spending. Metro officials said external factors like inflation and tariffs add increased pressure on the agency’s financial stability. The commuter rail system, which receives the majority of its funding from Metro and neighboring transit agencies, is facing an approximately $30 million budget shortfall and potential major service reductions. Metro has proposed to reduce its subsidy to Metrolink by $6 million, or 3%.
That reduction won’t have an immediate effect on Metrolink, which requested more time to work on its budget. In the meantime, Metro will contribute the same amount to Metrolink as it did in the first quarter of last fiscal year. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
A week after a damaged tank of toxic chemicals in Garden Grove forced nearly 50,000 evacuations, the immediate emergency is over. Now, many Orange County residents who've returned home are demanding answers about what went wrong and how to make sure it never happens again. Officials lifted all evacuation orders Tuesday after averting what could have been a catastrophic explosion at GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, which manufactures windows for military and civilian aircraft.
Dozens of plaintiffs already have filed at least seven lawsuits against GKN Aerospace over the debacle. Activist groups are demanding a permanent shutdown of the Garden Grove facility. And theA week after a damaged tank of toxic chemicals in Garden Grove forced nearly 50,000 evacuations, the immediate emergency is over.
But residents who Officials lifted all evacuation orders Tuesday after averting what could have been a catastrophic explosion at GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, which manufactures windows for military and civilian aircraft. Now, many in Orange County are demanding answers about what went wrong, what cleanup will look like and how to make sure it never happens again.
(And here's how you canDozens of plaintiffs have already filed at least seven lawsuits against GKN Aerospace over the debacle, the Orange County RegisterMeanwhile, several left-wing activist groups are demanding the permanent shutdown of GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove. The activists, including representatives from Palestinian Youth Movement and Harbor Institute for Immigrant & Economic Justice, cite the recent disaster alongside the company’s role as a subcontractor manufacturing parts for fighter jets.
The city of Garden Grove has reported at least $728,000 in preliminary costs to the Orange County Fire Authority related to the GKN incident, Garden Grove public information officer Jonathan Garcia told LAist. That doesn’t include the cost of water used at the incident scene, vehicle- and equipment-related expenses, or materials and supplies purchases, he said.
Water is sprayed on the tanks at a GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove in a bid to reduce the heat and pressure building up inside. Late last week, an industrial tank containing a flammable toxic substance called methyl methacrylate overheated at the aerospace facility and began leaking dangerous vapors. The leak was caused by a failed cooling valve on the tank, authorities said. That triggered the tank’s pressure-relief value and spiked the chemical’s temperature to dangerous levels.
An Orange County Fire Authority spokesperson told LAist that the first word of something amiss came from GKN, which notified authorities of the lead at 3:22 p.m. May 21. The next day, authorities announced it was a near certainty the damaged tank would either explode or crack and spill thousands of gallons of pollutants into the area.
A week later, authorities say they’d avoided disaster by injecting a neutralizing or inhibiting agent into a crack in the tank, turning the volatile liquid into a stable gel. The temperature in the tank remains stable around 90 degrees, authorities said Thursday. There is no chemical leak, threat of fire or risk to the public, authorities said. OC Fire reduced the “safety zone” around the tank to 150 feet this morning.
Now, the Orange County Health Care Agency hazardous materials team, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and GKN Aerospace are responsible for any removal and cleanup plans. Orange County Health and South Coast AQMD did not immediately respond to questions about next steps but said any plan will be developed along with GKN Aerospace and that more details would be available soon.
The company did not respond Thursday but told LAist in a statement last week it would “continue working alongside them and community partners as recovery efforts move forward. ” Water and air monitors have not detected any dangerous levels of pollutants around the site, according to local and federal authorities.
A spokesperson for the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency told LAist on Thursday it is working closely with South Coast AQMD on a"cleanup and removal" plan and will provide technical advisory support as needed. Pico Union native Daysi Garcia uses boxing and court advocacy to mentor young people in neighborhoods like Pico Union, Echo Park and Lincoln Heights.
“When people say boxing saves lives, we don’t mean that superficially,” Garcia said, a Pico Union native and boxing coach at gang intervention programs across Los Angeles. “We literally see boxing save people’s lives. ” That belief has become visible in young people like Elijah Rivera. The teen’s father Daniel Lopez said his son was able to avoid returning to juvenile hall after Garcia advocated for him in court and connected him to her boxing program.
For Garcia, stories like Elijah’s reflect the kind of impact she hoped she could have through boxing. Over the last several years, Garcia has helped young people across Lincoln Heights and Echo Park build confidence through boxing and mentorship in gang intervention programs. And now she’s also back in Pico Union coaching at the Graff Lab, in the same gym where she once trained herself.
“When people say boxing saves lives, we don’t mean that superficially,” Garcia said, a Pico Union native and boxing coach at gang intervention programs across Los Angeles. “We literally see boxing save people’s lives. ” That belief has become visible in young people like Elijah Rivera. The teen’s father Daniel Lopez said his son was able to avoid returning to juvenile hall after Garcia advocated for him in court and connected him to her boxing program.
“She showed up on his behalf as a third-party program,” Lopez said. “That ultimately helped him with his case. She really does dive deep into these kids and gets real personal with them. She cares about all aspects of their lives.
It’s not just in boxing. ”“It was a real good diversion for him to be able to focus on boxing instead of the streets,” Lopez said.
“He was able to ultimately turn his life around. ” For Garcia, stories like Elijah’s reflect the kind of impact she hoped she could have through boxing. Over the last several years, Garcia has helped young people across Lincoln Heights and Echo Park build confidence through boxing and mentorship in gang intervention programs. And now she’s also back in Pico Union coaching at the Graff Lab, in the same gym where she once trained herself.
“If my neighborhood didn’t invest in me, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” Garcia said. “So being able to pay it forward is a big deal for me. ”Born and raised in Pico Union to Mexican immigrant parents, Garcia said she first discovered boxing around age 20 through a gang intervention program connected to the University of Southern California boxing team. At the time, she said she was struggling to find direction in her life.
“It worked for me,” Garcia said. “Training in a neighborhood gym alongside collegiate boxers helped put me on a pathway back to college. ” Six months later, Garcia said she found herself in college. She eventually earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University and years later enrolled at Southwestern Law School, where she completed her first year of law school before taking time off during the pandemic.
It was during that break that Garcia began working at PUC Excel Charter Academy, a charter school in Lincoln Heights, where students were barred from playing traditional sports because of COVID-19 restrictions. Garcia proposed creating a boxing fundamentals program as a way to keep students engaged after school and off the streets.
“Five, six years later, those students are still with me training,” Garcia said. Garcia first launched the boxing program in Lincoln Heights during the height of the pandemic. The program later expanded to El Centro del Pueblo in Echo Park and eventually it will also be held at the Graff Lab in Pico Union. For Silvia Martinez, an 18-year-old immigrant from Michoacán, Mexico, joining the boxing program in Echo Park was a way to build discipline.
“I’m working on that because in the future I want to go into the army,” Martinez said in Spanish. “The first few times I started boxing, I was scared of getting hit, but now it feels normal to me. I like it because Daysi and the other coaches make you feel safe and supported.
” Garcia’s programs now offer mentorship, literacy support through a boxing-themed book club, court support for young people involved in the juvenile justice system, college guidance, emotional support and conversations around the school-to-prison pipeline and students’ rights. Garcia said she and members of the boxing team often show up to court hearings to advocate for students like Rivera and demonstrate to judges that they have community support systems behind them.
“I started my boxing program to help students get off the streets and get students out of juvenile hall,” Garcia said. “I really want to finish my law degree because I’m passionate about juvenile justice. ” Garcia was recognized for her work this week at Los Angeles City Hall by Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, an honor she said felt emotional because many of her students were standing beside her during the recognition.
“When people celebrate me, it’s not just me,” Garcia said. “I want my students to know they deserve to be celebrated this way too. ” Garcia also played a role in the creation of the inaugural World Boxing Council collegiate amateur belt with the USC boxing team. Now collegiate boxers can compete for a WBC-recognized title.
Garcia also said students in the program have received scholarships through the Los Angeles Collegiate Boxing Scholarship initiative she created. For grandparents like Marcela Sanchez, even though her grandchildren aren’t competing in boxing, she’s also seen how the program has affected them positively. Sanchez said she saw changes in two of her grandchildren after they joined Garcia’s boxing classes and other youth activities connected to the program, including art, sewing and tutoring programs.
“They talk more, they understand more, they listen more. Their behavior is way different now from the beginning,” Sanchez said. Garcia said one of the biggest misconceptions about her work is that the hardest part is dealing with students or the courts. In reality, she said, the biggest challenges are often securing funding, transportation and safe spaces for youth.
Still, Garcia said she continues to push students with a disciplined but trauma-informed coaching style that she believes helps them build resilience.
“We’re all in this together, we want to see our students succeed,” she said. “And we want to see more boxing gyms in L.A. ”
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