THE END ZONE:  OJ Simpson, the former football star infamously acquitted of murder in the bloody stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole and restaurant waiter Ron Goldman, died in Las Vegas Wednesday night at age 76. He had cancer.

  Simpson rocketed to fame as a running back for USC and 11 seasons in the National Football League then made a fortune acting and appearing in television commercials before his world collapsed with the 1994 murders and ensuing “trial of the century” in which he was acquitted.

  It was everything American: sex, race, sports, celebrity, and Hollywood. 

  Reactiing to Simpson’s death, Fred Goldman, the father of Ron, said, “There is nothing today that is more important than the loss of my son and the loss of Nicole. Nothing is more important than that.”

  Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman were found in pools of blood at her condominium in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. Evidence pointed to Simpson. When he was charged, Simpson agreed to turn himself in but it turned into the famous “slow speed chase” with OJ driven on LA streets and freeways in a Ford Bronco steered by his friend Al Cowlings who said Simpson was in the back holding a gun to his own head.

  The killer had left bloody size 12 prints from a Bruno Magli shoe. Simpson testified that he would never wear that “ugly ass” shoe and only after the trial did a photo surface of Simpson wearing that very shoe.

   The televised trial had the country riveted. The prosecution was tainted by clumsy presentation, mishandling of evidence, and racial prejudice by one of the detectives. Simpson was stunningly found not guilty.

   The verdict was shocking to millions and celebrated by millions. The case revealed the deep divisions between Black and white America and distrust of police.

  Simpson then lost a $33 million lawsuit brought by the Goldman family and later spent nine years in prison for an armed robbery in which he claimed he was only trying to recover memorabilia stolen from him. He played golf his first day out of prison and still owed the Goldmans $100 million at his death. 

  OJ Simpson spent the rest of his life privately in disgrace and relative obscurity. The Ford Bronco is now a popular exhibit at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

THE WAR ZONE: Deprived by Israel of normal food supplies, Northern Gaza has entered a stage of famine, according to Samantha Power, the director of the US Agency for International Development. She is the first US official to declare a state of famine in Gaza.

  Northern Gaza is far from the two entry points for food aid, making it nearly impossible for agencies to deliver in that area. Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Power said, “In northern Gaza, the rate of malnutrition prior to October 7th was almost zero, and it is now one in three kids.” 

ORANGE ALERT: Donald Trump this week tested the limits of the gag order placed on him in his impeding New York trial publicly attacking two of the prime witnesses in the Stormy Daniels porn star payoff. He called his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Daniels “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!”

  Trump is accused of falsifying business records to pay Daniels $130,000 for her silence about having sex with the then presidential candidate before the 2016 election. 

  The former president tried unsuccessfully three times this week to have the judge removed and the trial delayed. It’s set to start Monday.

FAR RIGHT: In an indication that some Republicans are beginning to think that a total abortion ban might be a political third rail, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake has come out against the state’s 1864 law that totally bans abortion except to save the life of the mother.

  The state’s supreme court upheld that old law earlier this week. Lake had previously supported enforcement of the 1864 law but now says she favors more recent legislation that bans abortion after 15 weeks.

THE SPIN RACK:  The late Russian dissident Alexsei Navalny who died in an Arctic prison camp had written a memoir titled “Patriot” that is to be published in the US in October. Yulia Navalnaya, his wife, said in a statement, “This book is a testament not only to Alexsei’s life, but to his unwavering commitment to the fight against dictatorship — a fight he gave everything for, including his life.”  — Federal prosecutors charge that Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani, schemed over years to steal $16 million from his friend and employer to feed his gambling addiction. The complaint contains a message in which Mizuhara admits to a bookmaker that he stole the money from Ohtani. — A court in Vietnam yesterday sentenced real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death for her conviction in a $12.46 billion financial fraud case. Vietnam hands out harsh punishments, but death in a financial case is rare.

BELOW THE FOLD: Consumer Reports is urging the federal government to remove Lunchables factory-prepped meals from the national free and reduced-price school lunch program after their analysis found high amounts of sodium and elevated levels of heavy metals.

  The analysis did not rate Lunchables as “repulsive” because that’s not a scientific term.

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