Arizona
Viral TikTok of Taylor Swift hugging little Arizona girl captures unforgettable memory
PHOENIX – The video has been viewed millions of times.
Superstar Taylor Swift moved past her security to hug a little fan and pose for a picture.
That little girl and her family live in Surprise and are telling the sweet, unforgettable story.
It’s a moment the Rodriguez family remembers “all too well.”
Taylor Swift ran up to six-year-old Natalie for a hug and a picture during a late night in New York City.
It all started with a family trip to the Big Apple.
“The whole trip was to take Natalie to see the Rockettes, and because she’s in dance, I figured that this would be the perfect time for her to watch professionals,” Monica Rodriguez said.
While she was there, Natalie received quite a welcome.
“I ice-skated and met Taylor Swift,” the little girl said.
Her brother Chris said it all happened by chance.
He and their mom recount the story, saying the family was walking down a New York street around midnight when something caught their eye.
“As I look around, and there are a handful of paparazzi, and I’m thinking, ‘I wonder who they’re waiting for?’” Monica said.
So they asked.
“One of them said, ‘Taylor Swift.’ I was like, ‘Yeah right, there would be a lot more paparazzi than just this many.’ But I was like, ‘Just in case, let’s wait and see if that would be who was coming out of the restaurant,’” Natalie’s mom said.
When they saw the Grammy-winning artist come out, they were “ready for it.”
“My mom just asked her a couple of times, ‘Taylor, can we get a picture?’ Taylor is about to step into the vehicle, and she clocks my sister, sees her, and says, ‘Is that a child?’” Chris remembered.
Stills from Chris Rodriguez’s video of his little sister Natalie meeting Taylor Swift in NYC.
The little swiftie was “enchanted” to meet the star who wrapped her in a hug.
“Her jacket was so soft,” Natalie said.
Her brother says, “It’s been absolutely insane.”
Chris posted the sweet interaction to his TikTok page, and within minutes, it exploded.
“My TikTok app actually crashed when I posted it. I thought something was wrong and was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I woke up to 1.5 million views. I was getting ready for work, and I checked my phone and was like, ‘Oh my God, this went insanely viral,’” Chris said.
Now, as Natalie “shakes it off” during her dance class dance routine, her heart is still spinning with the memory she will have forever.
Something the Rodriguez family will be forever grateful for.
“The whole thing was just so sweet and kind – to give my daughter a hug – it was just so sweet of her,” Monica said. “I would say to Taylor, ‘Thank you.’”
Natalie will be performing in the 2023 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade on Dec. 16.
Arizona
Baseball: Dodgers' potent offense helps Yamamoto get win over Arizona
Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw 6-1/3 innings of two-run ball and Freddie Freeman delivered a grand slam among three home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.
With plenty of backing from the powerful Dodger lineup, Yamamoto (5-1) struck out eight while allowing seven hits and one walk in another solid start for the National League West leaders, who extended their winning streak to four.
The Japanese right-hander surrendered a 1-0 lead when Joc Pederson hit a line-drive single with two out and two on in the top of the third at Dodger Stadium.
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on May 20, 2024. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Los Angeles quickly turned things around, however, racking up six runs against right-hander Slade Cecconi (1-4) in the home half of the inning.
Enrique Hernandez tied it with his solo homer and Shohei Ohtani drew a walk to load the bases before Freeman put the Dodgers up 5-1 with his fifth long bomb of the season. Will Smith extended the lead with a solo blast.
Yamamoto exited after giving up an RBI single to Kevin Newman in the seventh, while Ohtani finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
“I allowed the first run but was able to reset myself (mentally),” Yamamoto said.
The three-time MVP of Japan’s Pacific League threw an MLB career-high 100 pitches, including 69 strikes.
“My number of good pitches increased as the second half of the game progressed,” he said. “I felt like I was throwing with a good tempo.”
Related coverage:
Baseball: Yamamoto gets 4th win after longest MLB start
Baseball: Shohei Ohtani’s walk-off single lifts Dodgers past Reds
Baseball: Cubs’ Shota Imanaga gets 5th win with gem against Mets
Arizona
Arizona State men, women golf teams out of NCAA postseason; Arizona men advance
Schauffele clinches first major with PGA championship win
Xander Schauffele has clinched his first major title after winning the PGA Championship by one shot at Valhalla Golf Club.
unbranded – Sport
Four days after the Arizona State men’s golf team was eliminated in the Rancho Santa Fe (California) Regional, just the fifth time that a No. 1 seed failed to make it to the NCAA championship since 2009, the ASU women’s team was knocked out of the postseason. Missy Farr-Kaye’s squad finished 16th, one stroke out of the top 15 that advanced after the first of two cuts in the women’s postseason championship.
Two ASU golfers advanced as individuals, however, as senior Ashley Menne and Patience Rhodes got through the final day. The second cut was set for Monday night and will send the top eight teams to match play with the championship finale set for Wednesday.
The Arizona Wildcats are among the top 30 men’s teams to advance to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, California, for the men’s championship, which runs May 24-29. UA finished third in the West Lafayette Regional. After missing last year, Arizona will make its 29th championship appearance.
Local juniors shine
Peoria Sunrise Mountain alum Ben Lorenz, who plays collegiately at Oklahoma, won medalist honors at the Rancho Santa Fe Reginal. He helped OU become one of the 30 teams to advance to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, California, for the championship, which runs May 24-29.
Max Lyons from Phoenix was named the Big East Men’s Golfer of the Year after his junior season at Marquette. He led the league with a 72.33 scoring average with 17 par-or-better rounds.
Scottsdale Christian Academy graduate Gracie McGovern, now a freshman at TCU, along with Brynn Kort, finished runners-up in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in San Antonio last week.
Rahm, Mickelson miss cut at PGA
Phil Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship three years ago, missed the cut in the major this time around, as did fellow former ASU golfer Jon Rahm. For Rahm, it snapped his cuts made streak in the majors at 18, which had led all pro golfers.
Arizona
Full, unredacted copy of Arizona fake electors indictment released
PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) — The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has released the full, redacted copy of the state’s fake electors scheme indictment just days after the final defendant, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was served after his 80th birthday party while he was walking to his car.
Arizona’s Family obtained a full copy of the indictment early Monday which confirms that all defendants are facing charges for fraud, forgery, and conspiracy, all of which are felonies.
“We look forward to full vindication soon,” Giuliani’s political adviser, Ted Goodman said in a statement Saturday.
The indictment alleges that Giuliani “pressured” Arizona legislators and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to change the outcome of Arizona’s election and that he was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and six other contested states to vote for Trump.
Goodman said that Giuliani is expected to appear in court Tuesday unless he is granted a delay by the court.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, is among others who have been indicted in the case.
Neither Meadows nor Giuliani were named in the redacted grand jury indictment released earlier because they had not been served with it, but they were readily identifiable based on descriptions in the document. The Arizona attorney general’s office said Wednesday, May 1, that Meadows had been served and confirmed that he was charged with the same counts as the other named defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.
With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election.
Giuliani faces other legal proceedings, and a bankruptcy judge this past week said he was “disturbed” about the status of the case and for missed deadlines to file financial disclosure reports. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148 million to two former election workers for spreading a false conspiracy theory about their role in the 2020 election.
Giuliani was also indicted last year by a grand jury in Georgia, where he is accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint pro-Trump electoral college electors.
Among the defendants are 11 Arizona Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election — including a former state GOP chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. The other defendants are Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations, and four attorneys accused of organizing an attempt to use fake documents to persuade Congress not to certify Biden’s victory: John Eastman, Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis.
Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.
The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.
Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, became the first person charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.
Eastman made a brief statement outside the courthouse, saying the charges against him should have never been filed.
“I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process,” Eastman said. He declined to make further comment.
Arraignments are scheduled May 21 for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona.
All of the following individuals are named as defendants in the indictment: Rudolph Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, Christina Bobb, Jenna Ellis, Michael Roman, Kelli Ward, Tyler Bowyer, Nancy Cottle, Jacob Hoffman, Anthony Kern, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Lorraine Pellegrino, Gregory Safsten, and Michael Ward.
The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the election’s outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
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