内容摘要：Athletes set new meet records in several events, including boys and girls relay races, hurdle competitions and the boys pole vault.

Athletes set new meet records in several events, including boys and girls relay races, hurdle competitions and the boys pole vault.

While California farmers often rattle off a list of challenges they face including high labor costs,and overseas competition, many avocado growers say they have a good thing going. A key reason may come as a surprise to some — Mexican imports.

When the United States lifted its ban on Mexican avocados in 1997, California growers worried at first that the imported fruit would displace their production.But the steady flow of avocados has wound up helping, not hurting, their sales by allowing for a year-round supply to markets and restaurants that has fomented demand, farmers say. Before the influx, most American consumers considered avocados to be specialty items — and when they came into season in California, industry officials had to work to rev up widespread interest in order to sell them.Avocado consumption has been booming in the United States over the past two decades. The amount of fruit available per person tripled to more than 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) between 2000 and 2021, federal statistics show. Avocado toast and guacamole are regular offerings not just in culinary hubs like NYC but at cafes around the Midwest and the South.

Andreas Tompros holds ripe avocados grown at his avocado farm, Ridgecrest Avocados, in Somis, Calif., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)Andreas Tompros holds ripe avocados grown at his avocado farm, Ridgecrest Avocados, in Somis, Calif., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

On a steep, sun-soaked hillside northwest of Los Angeles, Tompros is replanting nearly 300 avocado trees with the belief that Americans’ hunger for the fruit — and his orchard — will continue to grow.

“It will come back, and I believe it will become better than it was,” Tompros, who previously ran a software company in Hollywood, said of the orchard he took over five years ago in the tiny community of Somis.As soon as he finished noon Mass, pet owners headed to the cathedral’s entrance, where Carballo sprinkled holy water on both humans and pets.

There was Jerome, a black and tan colored yorkie, held by loving owner Gabriela Viquez.She adopted him four years ago as a pup and immediately fell head over heels for him. Since then, on the anniversary of the day he arrived home, she gets a cake and hosts a party to celebrate Jerome.

“I once spoke to a person who can talk to animals and she told me that he once was a gift for someone, but was later abandoned and beaten, so he carried a lot of trauma,” Viquez said.“We are now very happy together and it was a fortune to have found each other.”