DEMONSTRATORS parade in Minneapolis protesting the death of George Floyd (Shutterstock).

A former Minneapolis police officer who held back bystanders while George Floyd gasped for breath before dying in 2020 was sentenced to 57 months in state prison on Monday.

According to United Press International, Tou Thau didn’t express remorse at his sentencing but read Bible passages for 23 minutes.

In addition to the state charges, he is serving a 3.5-year federal sentence for depriving Floyd of his civil rights.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, is serving a 22.5-year sentence on state charges and a 20-year federal sentence for civil rights violations.

Plot against Zelensky stopped

A plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been foiled, according to USA Today.

A woman – as yet unidentified – was arrested by agents of the Ukraine Security Service. She was allegedly tried to gather information about where Zelensky would be at certain times in order to share that information with Russian agents.

“Trump” lost in 2020: DeSantis

FLORIDA GOV. Ron DeSantis (Wikipedia).

After years of holding his tongue, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis conceded that rival Donald Trump did not win the 2020 election.

“Of course he lost,” said DeSantis in an interview with NBC News. “Joe Biden’s the president.”

DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is running a distant second in the polling for the GOP nomination.

An average of national polls shows Trump with 54 percent among Republicans compared to DeSantis with 16 percent.

Sports: Dodgers grand slam the Padres

The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their August rampage with a 13-7 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Monday.

Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eight-run fourth inning. It was his 31st homer of the season and the Dodgers 11th grand slam of the season, tying the franchise record.

With the win, the Blue Crew is 65-48 and has won six of seven games in August. The team continued to open its lead in the National League West by 4.5 games over the San Francisco Giants.

Betts was not the only heavy bat on Monday. James Outman was 4-for-4 and Enrique Hernandez homered (his seventh) in the sixth inning. Overall, the Dodgers had 15 hits as they won the series three games to one.

Next up is a two-game series in Arizona (Tuesday and Wednesday), then home to Chavez Ravine to open a four-game set hosting the Colorado Rockies.

Sports: Angels lose 7th straight game

After leading 3-2 going into the ninth inning, the Los Angeles Angels were smacked for six runs by the San Francisco Giants and lost 8-3 to suffer their seventh loss in a row.

Now 56-58, the Halos are sinking further out of the wild card race at eight games back. They remain in fourth place in the American League West.

Weather: The sun arrives

“Mostly sunny” conditions are expected to make a brief appearance on Tuesday in our West Orange County area with an expected daytime high of 82 with an overnight low of 67. For the next three days – Wednesday through Friday – the forecast is for morning clouds and afternoon sun. Wednesday should be 81 (68), then the thermometer drops to 74 (65) on Thursday, then bobs back up to 78 (65) on Friday.