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Los Angeles Times
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Daily Pilot/TimesOC writers win several Orange County Press Club awards
Daily Pilot and TimesOC writers won several awards at the Orange County Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards gala held Wednesday night at Anaheim Hills Golf Club to honor the work county journalists did throughout 2024. Daily Pilot writer Sara Cardine won first place in the Best Public Affairs Story category for her look at an apartment complex on the west side of Costa Mesa that was due to be demolished after years of housing low-income tenants. 'I was thrilled to see my story on a topic local to the city of Costa Mesa considered alongside the coverage of wider reaching issues, handled by seasoned reporters who bring every resource to bear in telling important stories,' Cardine said. 'It's heartening to see this level of attention being paid to what's happening in Orange County.' Cardine also earned third place in the Best Investigative Story or Series category, after examining how the Rancho Santiago Community College District found $8 million of its own money that had been quietly held back by a third-party insurance vendor. That detailed look was part of a project she has been working on for more than two years. Gabriel San Román, who writes for TimesOC, earned a second-place award in Best Environmental News with his story on San Clemente's eroding beaches. He also earned a honorable mention nod in Best Beat Reporting for stories on a Disney labor dispute. Daily Pilot reporter Andrew Turner earned third place in Best Sports Story for his game story on Edison football winning its first state championship, capturing the CIF State Division 1-A title on a late touchdown pass from Sam Thomson to Jake Minter. Turner also earned honorable mention in Best Environmental News, as he wrote about a program in which Laguna Beach used grazing goats as part of its mitigation effort against wildfires. Sarah Mosqueda, who writes primarily for TimesOC, was working for the Los Angeles Times when she wrote about 10 of the best Caesar salads in Los Angeles. That article earned second place in the Best Round-Up or Best Of category. 'I'm incredibly proud of our team,' said Executive Editor Carol Cormaci. 'Their passion for storytelling, commitment to accuracy and deep sense of purpose come through in every article they write. The O.C. Press Club awards are a wonderful recognition of their work.' A full list of award winners is available on the organization's website.
Los Angeles Times
11-06-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
14-year-old math whiz to graduate from UCI, his sister, 10, is close on his heels
Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 11. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events from around the county. When UC Irvine holds its various commencements exercises this Friday through Monday, one of the Anteaters collecting their bachelor's degrees will be Tycho Elling, who just turned 14 on May 31. Next, the young math whiz will be working on a doctorate at USC. My colleague Sara Cardine interviewed Tycho, his parents and one of his professors to get a picture of what motivated the youngster to zip through coursework from the time he was of kindergarten age until today. Clearly, the answer is his nearly life-long love for mathematics. His mom, Christina Elling, told Cardine she and her husband, Tim (both of them hold doctorates themselves) enrolled Tycho, their eldest child, in the online charter school Connections Academy when it appeared he was having a rough time with other kids in traditional kindergarten. He zipped through Connections courses, completing several grade levels at the speed of light. Community college beckoned when he was only 9 and had completed all the math classes available him. In 2023, when he was 12, he earned his associate's degree at Irvine Valley College as the campus' youngest graduate to date. 'That record was broken the following year when [his sister] Athena, then 11, walked the stage,' Cardine reports. 'But she wouldn't hold the title for long; Zora (10) just graduated with her associate's degree last month.' The 10-year-old, Zora, is enrolled in some summer courses to take her brother's seat in the math department at UCI in the fall, according to Cardine's report. 'I think of this kind of as the 'Tycho effect,' Christina Elling said of her children's post-secondary pursuits. 'Because Tycho had done it we felt a little more comfortable with the idea of Zora going.' At this point in the story I was pondering how soon the youngest member of the Elling household, 4-year-old Nova, would eclipse her older siblings and their passel of degrees. Cardine asked Tycho if he thought older UCI students might have felt uncomfortable doing coursework alongside someone his age. 'I just don't notice, or I try not to notice,' he said. UCI Associate Professor Asaf Ferber began teaching Tycho two years ago. 'He came to my office, this little kid,' he told Cardine. 'I asked him 'what type of math do you like' — I didn't know his background knowledge, so wanted to give him some books to read based on his natural attraction. And he looked at me with a naive face and a little smile and said, 'I love everything.'' What does Tycho hope to do once he has a PhD in hand? 'I don't know yet,' he said. 'Maybe I'll look at [postdoctoral work]. I haven't thought that far ahead yet.' You can find the complete story on Tycho and his family of high-achievers here. I really enjoyed it and hope you do, too. • Orange County politicians yesterday denounced the Trump administration's deployment of National Guard troops in support of local raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of them, Rep. Lou Correa, a Democrat who represents the 46th District, called a Tuesday morning news conference to make his views known. 'We want to tell America who Santa Ana is [and] what this immigration issue is all about,' Correa said. 'It's not us versus them. We are all part of the American fabric, part of the American community.' • In a civil trial that was moved to San Diego County to avoid potential conflicts, a jury last Thursday found Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer harassed and retaliated against a high-ranking female prosecutor in his office, the Los Angeles Times reported. The jury found the county, Spitzer and former Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Shawn Nelson, currently seated as an O.C. Superior Court judge, liable for $3 million in damages, including $1.5 million for past emotional distress. The jury also ruled Spitzer would be liable for an additional $25,000 in punitive damages. Newport Beach and Huntington Beach voters were asked to cast their ballots in Tuesday's special elections, one to fill a vacated seat on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees and the other to decide Measures A and B, both related to Huntington Beach libraries. The campaigns for both cities were rancorous, to put it mildly. Results started being released at 8 o'clock last night, past this newsletter deadline. Interested readers can find results as they are released here. • Registered nurses who work at Anaheim Regional Medical Center last week ratified their first union contract, represented by SEIU Local 121RN, TimesOC reported. The contract calls for a minimum 19% pay raise over the four years, enhanced safety measures that will free ER nurses from having to check incoming patients' belonging for weapons and drugs and better nurse-to-patient ratios. • There's a sewer pump station in San Clemente that's been endangered by an active, slow landslide for several years. Now it has breached an 8-foot retaining wall built to protect the station, raising the specter of a sewage spill. So, the City Council last week considered approving a $2.3-million emergency contract to reinforce the wall with caissons and tiebacks before the next heavy rains hit. The panel, gambling such storms would be several months away, took a conservative approach by turning down the contract on a unanimous vote and instead putting the job out to bid. Here's the link to the TimesOC story detailing their deliberations. • A rundown 164-unit townhome development in Santa Ana that one former police chief called the worst neighborhood in the city because violence, gangs and drug dealing were then commonplace, is getting some help from the nonprofit Orange County chapter of Community Associations Institute, an organization that advocates for HOAs and other community associations. The group harnessed a host of volunteers to help restore a playground full of trash and broken equipment in the center of Bishop Manor to a lively, inviting place for the children living there. • Another restoration of a recreational spot in Orange County, that of Main Beach Park in Laguna Beach, was recently completed. The $1.4-million project included new sidewalks, refreshed landscaping and upgraded furnishings, including benches, drinking fountains, lighting and trash receptacles. •Andrew Do, 62, the former O.C. supervisor who resigned as part of a plea deal stemming from a $550,000 bribery scheme was given a five-year sentence in federal prison Monday, the maximum sentence available to the judge under the plea deal. • After executing search warrants, Costa Mesa police announced Monday they had arrested Huntington Beach resident Oscar Saldivar, 19, on suspicion of murder in the case in connection with the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Monserrat Colorado on the night of June 2 at the 1500 block of Costa Mesa's Lukup Lane. Colorado was also from Huntington Beach. • In more positive public safety news, the Newport Beach City Council was on track to approve last night a contract with the police union that would provide annual 4% raises for rank-and-file sworn and unsworn officers. The raises are expected to cost the city $19.3 million over three years, the Daily Pilot reported. • Angels pitcher Kyle Hendricks earned his 100th career win when the Halos beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4at Angel Stadium. Kenley Jansen kept the ball from the Mariners' final out and handed it to Hendricks to mark the occasion. His first 97 victories were secured when he was with the Chicago Cubs. • High-profile sports agent and Newport Beach resident Scott Boras was among the honorees at the inaugural OC Sports Awards held recently at Angel Stadium, where he received the Lifetime Achievement award. According to this Daily Pilot story by Matt Szabo, the 72-year-old Boras has negotiated nearly $4 billion in contracts for his clients over the years, including the $765-million deal with the N.Y. Mets he secured for his client Juan Soto, the largest in sports history. • The Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! ride at Disneyland, which opened in 2006, is scheduled to be closed early next year to make was for an new attraction inspired by the oceans of James Cameron's sci-fi film 'Avatar,' The Times reports. • Orange County's oldest record store on South Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, whose owners, Jimmy and Edith Otto were ready to call it quits last October, has been purchased by another family and reopened. First opened in 1967, Sound Spectrum has been given a new lease on life by siblings James, Audrey and Sadie Jean Wilcox. • The Huntington Beach Queens' Rose Garden celebrated its 60th anniversary on Friday when the current Miss Huntington Beach, Nicole Allyson Vogt was there for the planting of a 'Mellow Yellow' rose bush that she selected. The ceremony was put on by the nonprofit Sand Dollars of Huntington Beach, which organizes the Miss Huntington Beach scholarship and pageant program each year. • The Hillbert Museum in Orange, founded by Newport Beach resident Mark Hilbert and his late wife, Janet, is partnering this year with the Pageant of the Masters to promote California art in the Laguna Beach pageant. An oil painting that depicts Hilbert dining at the iconic Crab Cooker with two other men (including, Bradford J. Salamon, the artist himself) has special meaning, because the museum was born from the discussions they held during their Monday night meetups at the Newport Beach eatery. Hilbert will join the cast of volunteers at the living pageant on 'Hilbert Museum Night at the Pageant' on July 9 to play himself in the 'Monday at the Crab Cooker' painting, TimesOC reports. • The national tour of the sensational production that's claimed multiple Tony awards, 'The Life of Pi,' based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, is on stage at the Segerstrom through Sunday. Read this feature story by my colleague Sarah Mosqueda to learn more about the magic of the puppetry that brings the tiger character to life. Tickets start at $44.07 and can be ordered here. • The 6th annual Taste of Japan event will take place at the STC Anaheim GardenWalk this Friday through Sunday and will feature a marketplace, live entertainment and Japanese street food. General admission is free, with special event tickets available for purchase. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the event's website. Until next Wednesday,Carol We appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
Los Angeles Times
26-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Funds shrouded from an O.C. community college district board — is it illegal use of taxpayers' money?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, March 26. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events. Rancho Santiago Community College District, which oversees Santa Ana and Santiago Canyon colleges, has been at the center of recent reporting by my colleague Sara Cardine, who for just over two years has been unraveling some eyebrow-raising actions — and relationships— between a vendor and a couple of former district administrators. When I say two years, it's a bit misleading. It is true she started digging into this complex story in January 2023, but, given the modest size of our staff, we could not spare her more than one day a week to devote to it. So she's plugged away quietly every Monday, interviewing stakeholders and availing herself of the California Public Records Act to request internal documents from host of a entities so she could put all the pieces of the puzzle together. What she has reported so far is roughly a third of that jigsaw; more pieces are awaiting at the side, tantalizingly so, until the time is right to put them into place. Readers might remember the first stories that materialized from Cardine's findings and were published in September, 'How one Orange County community college district found $8M of its own money,' and '2 retired Rancho Santiago CCD employees have deep moorings in ASCIP risk pool,' both of which (we heard through the grapevine) were sniffed at by at least one embarrassed (or perhaps nervous) insider as not worth worrying about because the Daily Pilot is 'just an insert' in the Los Angeles Times. The online readership stats for those stories belie that sentiment. Sometimes it's a true pleasure to be underestimated. Around the time those stories broke, a member of the district's board of trustees, Phil Yarbrough, pressed for an audit to get to the bottom of how it could be possible that $8 million had been essentially (maybe even intentionally?) hidden from the board. Those dollars might have been used to meet urgent needs over the years, yet they remained the knowledge of just a few people who, for whatever reasons, kept the info to themselves. On a recent Monday, the forensic audit was presented to the district's board. It confirmed every detail Cardine had discovered during her own investigation into the problematic relationship between RSCCD and the entity that held funds belonging to it without clear accounting for them, the Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs, or ASCIP, the unaccredited joint powers authority that provides districts with various types of insurance. Which led to our most recent articles, published in Sunday's paper: 'Community college district's audit of secret $8M insurance rebate fund exposes violations' in which Cardine reported, 'Accountants found that current and former district employees violated California's education code, state budgetary guidelines and the board's own policies by failing to publicly disclose the fund's balance, including in annual district audits.' The sidebar to that story was a not entirely unexpected reaction to that audit's findings, inasmuch as breaking ed code is unlawful: 'Rancho Santiago stakeholders take forensic audit findings to O.C., L.A. investigators.' Yes, the matter was sent to the district attorneys of both counties. Not only were there violations at the district level, but there still remain, as Cardine reports, 'the wider implications of ASCIP's practices involving the 140 public school district members it serves, from San Francisco to San Diego counties.' How many of those districts remain unaware ASCIP is holding funds back from them at a time when they could use the funds, wonders Barry Resnick, a source for Cardine's reporting. 'This is not the way taxpayer funds should be handled,' he said. • As had been predicted by many, celebrity chef Andrew Gruel was appointed from among three earlier mentioned candidates and immediately sworn in as the newest member of the Huntington Beach City Council last week. It also might not come as a surprise that the audience — representing both sides of the political divide — would became so loud in their bipartisan disagreement over the appointment that the police would be forced to clear the chambers of everyone except the council. Note the sign on the dais indicating Gruel's appointment to replace Tony Strickland (recently elected to the state Senate) had apparently been decided ahead of the meeting. • On a 4-1 vote last week and over the objections of some residents, the La Habra City Council gave the green light to the Diocese of Orange to build 21 market-rate apartments on a 1.6-acre grassy field at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. According to TimesOC, a consultant for the Diocese told the council, 'It's just like any other apartment complex, it just happens to be owned by the Diocese.' Here's a lukewarm endorsement from one of the council members, Daren Nigsarian: 'I favor the project because I don't think we have a choice,' he said. • The three adult daughters of undocumented immigrants Nelson and Gladys Gonzalez, longtime residents of Laguna Niguel, were stunned to learn that when their parents showed up Feb. 21 for a routine annual check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an agreement to remain in the country, they were detained and sent back to Colombia. The L.A Times reports that, according to a statement from ICE, the married couple entered the country illegally in 1989 near San Ysidro. Their daughters, who are all U.S. citizens, wrote on a fundraising website, 'They have never broken the law, never missed an appointment [with ICE] and this sudden occurrence has left us in shock.' • College Hospital Costa Mesa announced earlier this month it had discovered that more patient information had been exposed during a data breach last year than had earlier been reported. Those impacted were notified that a 'threat actor' had accessed certain files within the hospital sometime between Aug. 14 and Sept. 17, 2024. • Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer announced Friday his office is charging 48-year-old Irvine resident Saritha Ramaraju with one felony count of murder and one felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon. Ramaraju was arrested for allegedly slitting her 11-year-old son's throat with a kitchen knife after after they spent three days exploring Disneyland. • California Highway Patrol is investigating a multi-car crash involving a Huntington Beach police officer that sent six people to the hospital Sunday night. The crash occurred at about 10:15 p.m. near where Beach Boulevard meets Yorktown Avenue. • A round-up of some of the local public safety briefs reported by City News Service over the past several days: — A 35-year-old man was charged Friday with stabbing an O.C. Sheriff's Department deputy in San Clemente on March 18. Moses Paulisin was charged with attempted murder, willful resisting a peace office resulting in injury, assault with a weapon on a peace officer and obstructing an officer, all felonies. The deputy was treated for a neck wound and released from a hospital — Michael Carl Hallgreen, 70, was sentenced Friday to 16 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing a fellow resident in a care home in Anaheim on Nov. 20, 2018. — The man who was charged with molesting two girls over a seven-year period while living in a crowded Cosa Mesa home with their mother was found guilty Monday. Nelson Anibal Saavedra is scheduled to be sentenced May 9. · The Angels acquired right-handed starter Ian Anderson from the Atlanta Braves on Sunday in a trade for left-hander José Suárez, according to this Associated Press story in the Los Angeles Times. Bill Shaikin's lasted column on their team, also for the The Times, will no doubt resonate with die-hard Angels fans. Shaikin wonders out loud what, exactly, the plan is for this season, inasmuch as the team has the longest playoff drought in Major League Baseball. • Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus was the featured guest last week when the Hoag Classic, the annual tournament for pro golfers 50 years old and up, held its pre-tournament Breakfast with a Champion at the Balboa Bay Resort. The three-day tournament got underway Friday, with Brendan Jones leading at the end of the day, Fred Couples tying for lead with Spain's Miguel Angel Jiménez at 11 under par on Saturday and Jiménez finishing the tournament at 15 under par to win by a stroke. • One of the senior players on Newport Harbor's baseball team was crushed in February to learn that his 47-year-old father had died unexpectedly while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas. This story by Daily Pilot writer Matt Szabo about the way the team and coach have been rallying behind him is inspirational. 'It's definitely one of the coolest brotherhoods I've ever witnessed,' the player's mother said of her son's teammates, some of whom had been coached by her late husband when they were younger. • In honor of Holi — the Hindu festival of colors — the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel is hosting an afternoon tea service reimagined for the holiday. This special service, which is being offered on Saturdays, is dubbed Chit, Chat, Chai. Priced at $138 per person, it is being served up in the resort's restaurant Kahani, helmed by New Delhi native chef Sanjay Rawat. Reservations for Kahani are available on OpenTable. • In partnership with Charitable Ventures and UCI, the Samueli Foundation and Orange County Community Foundation recently surveyed more than 600 county nonprofit leaders for a needs assessment report, which revealed obstacles they typically encounter in their field. The main challenges uncovered included investing in staff and leadership, infrastructure and financial sustainability, collaboration and restrictive funding models. It was announced last week the Corona del Mar-based Samueli Foundation has committed $15 million to three initiatives to help meet that those needs. Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents American Ballet Theatre's premiere of 'The Winter's Tale,' inspired by Shakespeare's play, from Thursday, April 3 through Sunday, April 6. Tickets start at $44.07. Visit for more information. • WonderCon returns to the Anaheim Convention Center this Friday through Sunday and will feature more than 900 exhibitors, cosplay, panels and entertainment. The San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con International), which also organizes Comic-Con in July at the San Diego Convention Center, puts on the Anaheim event. • The OC Japan Fair is set for Friday, April 4 through Sunday, April 6 at the Orange County Fair & Event Center. General admission is $15 if purchased in advance and increases to $18 beginning April 4. Free admission for ages 6 and younger or 66 and older. Parking is $12. Hours Friday are 4 to 10 p.m., Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more details visit OC Japan Fair. • Green thumb alert: The San Clemente Garden Club is hosting its 2025 GardenFest on Saturday, April 12, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The club's website touts it as the city's 'Biggest, Best Plant Sale and Garden/Household Goods Flea Market.' From free garden tool sharpening to children's activities,it looks like there will be a lot going on during the event in addition to the plant sale and flea market. San Clemente Community Center, 100 N Calle Seville. Until next week,Carol I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
Los Angeles Times
05-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
‘Save the Steele' campaign seeks to protect Orange Coast College's children's center
Good morning. It's Wednesday, March 5. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events. For 40 years young parents have relied on the Harry and Grace Steele Children's Center at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa as a place where their little ones from infancy through 5 years old can thrive in weekday programs until it's time for them to enter elementary school. Originally the center was intended for the use of OCC students who needed care for their children while they were attending classes. As trends changed over the years, according to this Daily Pilot article by Sara Cardine, there were fewer student parents on campus. This allowed the center's services to be made available to OCC faculty and staff members with youngsters of their own, as well as the community at large, which embraced the offerings that even included opportunities for the kids to pet live animals or care for a garden. There had been some financial difficulties dating back to the pandemic, the center's teachers were aware, but they were not braced for an announcement made via an email to staff on Feb. 21. They learned in that Friday message that cuts would have to be made that would 'eliminate more than half of the Costa Mesa center's offerings and force the relocation or layoff of staff members, many who've worked there for decades,' Cardine writes. Budgetary shortfalls requiring the annual outlay of more than $500,000 to the program, the officials explained, led to the need for the reorganization. In an interview with the Daily Pilot on Thursday, Madjid Niroumand, OCC's vice president of student services, said the projected expenses for the 2024-25 academic year are forecast at nearly $2 million, but officials anticipate revenues of just $1.37 million. So, the proposal on the table is that the center's infant, toddler and young preschool classes will be eliminated entirely and there will be just two preschool classrooms for kids aged 3 to 5. Parents who for years have valued the center's offerings have taken up arms to battle the cuts. Banding together for the 'Stop the Steele' campaign, they are showing up at meetings to protest, and one mom set up a petition that, as of Friday, had 2,266 signatures, Cardine reports. They allege the center would not be in the financial position it is had a former director of the programs not given up valuable federal Title V grant funding in order to take less restrictive state funding. One instructor, who said she and the others were blindsided by the Feb. 21 email, is among those worried they'll lose their jobs and suspect school officials 'are angling to privatize the facility, a strategy undertaken at OCC's Recycling Center and campus bookstore,' according to the article. The cuts and the future of the Harry and Grace Steele Children's Center are expected to be considered at a March 10 meeting of the Orange Coast Community College District Board of Trustees, Cardine reports. • A 60-foot eucalyptus tree crashed down in Huntington Beach's Central Park at about 7 p.m. last Wednesday, flattening a Nissan sedan that belonged to a janitorial crew working at the park. No one was injured. 'The tree was determined to be in good health, with no wind or water damage — it's just one of those weird things,' Deputy City Manager Jennifer Carey told the Daily Pilot. • A brief update on a couple of current Huntington Beach legal entanglements we've been reporting here: Two teenagers have joined others in suing the city over the conservative City Council's library policies and a judge reversed an earlier decision in a case brought against the city by the state over its Measure A voter ID law. That case can now proceed and its next hearing is set for early April. • After about two years of negotiation between Fountain Valley and the county of Orange, the Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved an expansion of Fountain Valley Sports Park by 16 acres. • Although final numbers in last week's special election will not be released until Thursday, Huntington Beach City Councilman Tony Strickland claimed victory Monday in the race to fill the state Senate seat for District 36. That seat was vacated by fellow Republican Janet Nguyen after she was elected in November to the county Board of Supervisors. The candidate with the closest number of votes to Strickland's, Democrat Jimmy Pham, conceded the race. District 36 includes most of coastal Orange County — including Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach — and also the Los Angeles County cities of Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens. • The Newport Beach Police Department received the blessing of the City Council last week to get started on a new drone program by approving a $2.1-million, five-year contract with Seattle-based BRINC Drones Inc. '[The drones are] designed to take off from a citywide network of recharging stations and then hook into computer-aided dispatch. So, the second someone calls 911, we grab that GPS coordinate and then we use it to automatically dispatch an aircraft to that location. So we can respond to 911 calls with this technology in tens of seconds,' a company representative told the council. • Also out of Newport Beach is this Daily Pilot article on the turnout of about 70 people, including some nostalgic firefighters, to witness the demolition Monday of an old fire station on 32nd Street that stood vacant since the department moved operations to a new facility about a quarter of a mile away in 2022. • The jury that had been at an impasse Monday in the murder trial of Jeffrey Ferguson, the O.C. Superior Court judge charged with fatally shooting his wife in the summer of 2023, reheard Ferguson's testimony Tuesday in hopes they could come to a verdict. Deliberations were expected to continue today. The options for the panelists include acquitting Ferguson or convicting him of second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter. • For the fourth time, the Laguna Beach boys' soccer team has captured a CIF Southern Section championship crown by topping Yucaipa 3-2 on penalty kicks in the Division 4 final at El Modena High's Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange. • Sage Hill's first CIF Southern Section girls' soccer final ended Saturday when the Lightnings beating La Mirada for the Division 4 championship, also played at Fred Kelly Stadium. • Batters up: A handful of O.C. prep teams are on The Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings published Sunday. The complete list can be found here. • Edison High School fired former NFL player Chris Kluwe from his job there teaching freshman football last week, following his political protest against MAGA actions during a meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council that led to his arrest. • The Lido Theater in Newport Beach was the venue last Thursday night for the premiere of the documentary 'The Surf-Skate Business Evolution: The OC Effect,' produced by Scott Hays and Terry Corwin. Dick Metz, the original owner of Hobie Surf Shops and a founder of the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, was among the crowd. • Observant Muslim students in the Garden Grove and Anaheim Union High school districts who request a religious accommodation during Ramadan are offered free meal kits to take home with them, TimesOC reported. Throughout the Islamic holy month, which got underway last Friday, followers abstain from food and drink from dawn until dusk. • Dana Point Festival of the Whales runs this Friday through Sunday and offers a host of activities throughout its run, according to this TimesOC story. Click here for the complete list of the festival's events, where you'll see that some require RSVPs while others do not. • On Friday, March 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 15, from noon to 7 p.m., Los Alamitos presents its Weekend of Art, an exhibition of visual and performing arts, at Los Alamitos Community Center, 10911 Oak St. That Saturday there will also be a vendor and arts and crafts fair. Rain and cool temperatures are in the National Weather Service forecast for Orange County today, possibly tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday. Stay warm and dry until we meet here again next week! Best,Carol I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
Los Angeles Times
12-02-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
A word to the wise: Watch where you park
Good morning. It's Wednesday, Feb. 12. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events. Just before we flipped our calendars to 2025, media reports advised California motorists of a freshly minted law that requires us (as of Jan. 1) to leave at least 20 feet, or one large car length between a marked or unmarked crosswalk and our vehicle when parking at a curb, whether or not said curb has been painted red. The 'daylighting law' was enacted to save lives, as the distance now required to be left free of vehicles allows drivers to better see vulnerable pedestrians or bicyclists at the intersection ahead. What I didn't realize when I read those reports was that the law, AB 413, was already a full year old. Sacramento lawmakers passed it in 2023 and it went into effect in 2024. As I understand it now, beginning that Jan. 1, city police departments were supposed to start educating but not citing drivers who didn't allow that much space from a street corner when parking. The public was, in effect, given a yearlong grace period to absorb the details of the law before paying any consequences for breaking it. Apparently I was not alone in thinking the law only went into effect this year. I learned from my colleague Sara Cardine that the Orange County city she covers for the Daily Pilot appears to have been caught unaware as well. For her story, 'Costa Mesa motorists left in the dark about state's new 'daylighting' law,' Cardine heard from the man who wrote the law's language, Marc Vukcevich, that Costa Mesa is not the only city that missed the 12-month opportunity to educate its residents before writing tickets for breaking it. The Costa Mesa resident drafted the language for the bill introduced by Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-San Jose) in February 2023 that was signed into law that October. According to the article, Vukcevich, a member of Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets (CMABS), said he spoke to the city's public works director a year ago asking officials to educate citizens on the new law. 'Have we been giving warnings at all the past year? Does Public Works have a plan to implement this with red curbs, with bollards, with bike racks or other things we can do?' he asked at the time. Apparently the answer was no. This January the Costa Mesa Police Department, in compliance with the law, began writing tickets. How many of those motorists even knew the law was on the books we couldn't know, but when city officials realized earlier this month that the period during which they were supposed to have been educating drivers had passed without such warnings, they decided those tickets would be dismissed. An announcement to that effect went out on social media posts last week that no one else will be cited for parking within 20 feet of an intersection until March 1. According to Cardine's story, Costa Mesa City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison said public works and police officials were working together to ensure ticketing does not precede education. 'We strongly believe in education before we implement new programs,' she said. 'It's important for everyone to be informed of the new rules.' • As news of deportations from the U.S. of immigrants without proper documentation has grabbed increasingly heated attention over the past few weeks under the Trump 2.0 administration, at least a few Orange County communities have reacted. Santa Ana, which 2016 declared itself a 'sanctuary city,' discussed reconvening a Sanctuary Policy Advisory Group within a month, TimesOC reporter Gabriel San Román learned. Readers may recall that Huntington Beach recently filed suit against California over its sanctuary state law. San Román reported that the San Clemente City Council last week rebuffed a request by Mayor Steve Knoblock to join the Huntington Beach suit. 'We don't want to be Huntington Beach,' said San Clemente Councilman Mark Enmeier to applause during the meeting. 'We … don't want to get involved in national politics.' • People keeping an eye on Huntington Beach City Hall over the past several years couldn't help but notice that the city attorney, Michael Gates, has led Surf City's charge against the state over a host of progressive-leaning mandates (including the sanctuary state law mentioned above). This week, Gates announced he'll be moving to a bigger pond, as he has accepted a position as a deputy assistant attorney general in the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice. • Concerned about more stringent regulations pondered by the California Fish and Game Commission that would decrease the number of barred sand bass that could be targeted by fishermen, the Dana Point City Council sent a letter to the commission, according to this TimesOC story. The city pushed commissioners to keep lines of communication open with the local stakeholders while setting the regulations, including anglers who fish from Dana Point's 'piers, breakwaters, kayaks, small boats, and commercial passenger boats.' • The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved settlement offers from Southern California Edison for $18.125 million to pay for county damages from the October 2020 Silverado and May 2022 Coastal fires, City News Service reported. • A former United States Postal Service supervisor who worked at a Costa Mesa post office has admitted to being a serial mail thief, pilfering more than $300,000 worth of checks, gold and collectible currency while on the job, authorities said. The woman, Joivian Tjuana Hayes, is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on May 23. • A 69-year-old Anaheim caregiver is accused of raping a 93-year-old woman who is nonverbal, bedridden and suffers from dementia, on Jan. 6, while he was supposed to be caring for her. • A wrong-way driver from La Habra identified as 29-year-old Joshua Kevin Soto succumbed in a hospital to injuries he sustained after crashing head-on into another vehicle at around 1:35 a.m. Monday on Jamboree Road in Irvine, City News Service reported. The other driver was not injured, according to police. • Veteran MBA pitcher Kenley Jansen yesterday was closer to agreeing to a 'one-year, $10-million contract with the Angels pending a physical, according to a person familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak publicly about it,' L.A. Times sportswriter Mike DiGiovanna reported. • Former National Football League player Matthew Hatchette has been hired as head football coach at Huntington Beach High School, pending school board approval, it was announced last week. Hatchette, a receiver during his career, played in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars before retiring following the 2003 season. • The Pacifica Christian High School-Orange County boys' soccer team was celebrating its first-ever league title last week with a 3-1 victory over Santa Ana's Magnolia Science Academy. • The skills of George Bandar, owner and sole craftsman of Master Jewelers Newport, were sought out by a couple who lost their home in the Palisades fire last month but managed to pull from the ashes two heirloom rings and a bracelet that were heavily damaged and blackened during the catastrophe. Bandar told the Daily Pilot he considers the repair work for the couple a labor of love and he's only charging them the cost of materials. 'I work on it like it's my own,' Bandar said in the interview. 'My weak point is when I hear it has sentimental value. When I hear that, I take it like it comes from my grandma to me.' The results of those repairs: • Valentine's Day is this Friday. To help TimesOC readers decide where they might like to dine out for the occasion, staff writer Sarah Mosqueda offers the inside scoop on six romantic options. Those looking to treat the whole family to a special meal should take a look at the three Little Saigon restaurants that food writer Edwin Goei tested out for his article on communal feasting. • Maverick Theater on Walnut Avenue in Fullerton opened its stage production of the Academy Award-winning 1998 romantic-comedy 'Shakespeare in Love' on Friday; it will run through Sunday, March 16. Samantha Green and Justyn Franco Gonzalez lead the 21-member cast as Viola de Lesseps and Will Shakespeare, respectively. Some performances are sold out, but others nights are still available. Tickets range from $21.50 to $39.50. • 'Tick Tick ... Boom!' by Jonathan Larsen will be staged Feb. 21 at Chance Theater in the Bette Aitken Theater Arts Center, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. Proceeds will benefit Orange County performing arts students through a variety of programs. Reception, 7 p.m., curtains up, 8 p.m. Tickets, priced at $55, are available online. • The nonprofit Festival Singers of Orange County will present 'Melodies from Near and Far' on Sunday, March 2, at 3 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of the Master, 26051 Marguerite Pkwy., Mission Viejo. The program will include songs from different cultures around the globe. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance here or at the door. Until next Wednesday,Carol I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
