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Los Angeles Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Mailbag: Elections will show public response to cruel ICE raids
I read the article, 'Citizen says ICE arrested her at local park,' July 6, 2025, and it only added to my anger and disgust at the cruelty and chaos of the administration's efforts to disappear and deport those they assume are immigrants with no due process. I have not read of any arrests of convicted criminals by ICE. I believe that GOP voters and senators and congressmen DID vote for this. Certainly in the latest immoral, illegal bill and prior to the election Project 2025 was explained in print and in the media. Informed voters were told this would happen and now detention camps and flights are the current president's gas chambers. ICE arrests are based on racial profiling to meet the demands of an immoral administration. I would like to see any GOP official or voter go into the detention camps for a few days — and not be tortured because no one should be tortured — but subjected to the same containment, sleeping arrangements, hygiene accommodations and food service as the detainees. The midterms will certainly not return these GOP officials to office. Impeachment of the president and most of his cabinet members is the prudent way to return our country to a democracy. Margaret MooneyCosta Mesa (Re: 'Once lagging in school, Huntington Beach teen welds together a solid future,' Daily Pilot/TimesOC, July 6.) I taught high school for 41 years, from 1964 to 2005 (eight years in Los Angeles and 31 years in Huntington Beach). All of those high schools had industrial arts programs. At Huntington Beach High School, we had auto shop, machine shop, wood shop, electronics shop, photography, metal shop, welding and hot metals shop and drafting. When Ronald Reagan served as governor (1967-1972) he moved away from the 'smokestack' industry, or industrial trades and over time many of the industrial arts classes have disappeared. Not every student is going to college. Now students like Cameron Rauch have to pay to learn those skills. Shame. Chris IngallsHuntington Beach Let's face it, the citizenry in Huntington Beach is not being well-served by its current city council. The not so magnificent seven of partisan extremists has consistently placed its MAGA base above the best interests of the community — and left everyone in Surf City poorer for it. Their incompetent ideological decision-making has run the city into the ground, creating huge budget deficits, a flight of experienced staff members in several departments and a dearth of solutions to our city's pressing needs. The members of the Huntington Beach City Council, from the mayor on down, have antagonized many community constituencies, not the least those who support our beloved library system. This was evident in the failed attempt to thwart Measures A and B in the June special election, an attempt that needlessly cost the city over $1 million. So much for fiscal stewardship. The City Council has shown its anti-community disdain from the dais on numerous occasions, berating citizens at council meetings and muzzling speakers in public comments by arbitrarily restricting their speaking time. The boorish behavior of the mayor has repeatedly tarnished the reputation of our city and its local government. The City Council has further restricted democracy and representation by manipulating or eliminating city boards and commissions, which are meant to broadly advise the council on issues, policies and concerns important to the public. While the City Council and their MAGA acolytes may take pride in their hard-edged partisanship and autocratic tendencies, it's my belief almost everyone else does not and that most of the community is embarrassed and resentful. The hope is that the dismal performance of the current city council and its contempt for the best interests of the community will be reflected in the 2026 local election and that a more representative and responsive council majority will come to power. The effort to act on that hope is already under way. Tim GeddesHuntington Beach Civility and decorum start from the dais. Since January 2023, I have witnessed both Huntington Beach City Council members and members of the public speak and act with a lack of civility and decorum. We rarely see council members look as if they are even listening to the public speakers and we have even heard profanity from microphones. Members of the public have used inappropriate language and gestures while at the podium. Audience members have been disruptive. We all can and should do better. But it starts with our elected officials being respectful towards the public. The public deserves an apology from our mayor for remarks made and heard at the Huntington Beach City Council meeting on June 17. A city council meeting is not a locker room of good old boys. Hundreds of H.B. voters are waiting to hear, at a minimum, an acknowledgment that profanity is not acceptable from the dais. Cathey RyderHuntington Beach At the last Huntington Beach City Council meeting, Mayor Burns was rightfully confronted for his unprofessional conduct as an elected official — a clear violation of the code of ethics he pledged to uphold. As a former business owner with 20 employees, this behavior would never be tolerated. This is not a locker room, this is a public forum. Speaker after speaker cited his own exact hot mic remarks — such as 'pieces of s**t,' 'mother f—ing cow,' and 'they can f-themselves' in reference to Huntington Beach residents. What were you thinking, Mr. Burns? Equally troubling is the silence from the rest of the City Council, the city manager and the city attorney. Their failure to address or condemn this conduct makes them complicit. Accountability must extend beyond the mayor — every city leader who turns a blind eye to such disrespectful and unethical behavior shares in the responsibility. Andrew EinhornHuntington Beach
Los Angeles Times
09-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Illegal fireworks at the hands of teen caused Rancho fire, invesitgators believe. Could embers reignite as temps rise?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, July 9. 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. It's hard to believe since the images are still so clear in my mind, but it's been six months since January's devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County that took the lives of 30 people. Investigations continue into exact causes of both the Palisades and Eaton fires, but in the case of the former there was reportedly some evidence it may have been caused when a New Year's Eve fire dubbed the Lachman fire, possibly started by fireworks and thought to have been extinguished, was rekindled during the fierce winds that blasted through the Southland the first week of 2025. So it's not stretch to imagine today how Laguna Beach residents might be eyeing somewhat nervously the brush-covered terrain on their hillsides where a blaze dubbed the Rancho fire broke out just after 2 p.m. Monday near Rancho Laguna Road and Morningside Drive. Evacuation orders were swiftly issued along La Mirada Street, Katella Street, Summit Drive and Baja Street. Arch Beach Heights also received an evacuation warning. By nightfall, fire officials believed the blaze was well enough under control that those orders had been lifted. Our photographer, Don Leach, who was dispatched to document the fire with photos for our paper, told me in one of our phone calls Monday that it looked to him as though firefighters were doing a great job keeping the fire from getting out of hand. He spoke with some awe in his voice of the amount of fire retardant that was being dropped from Cal Fire planes. The Rancho fire grew to over 4 acres and, as of yesterday morning, was at 50% containment. The cause? A youth allegedly started it by using illegal fireworks. 'Laguna Beach police detectives took a 13-year-old boy into custody on suspicion of committing felony reckless burning of forest land,' the Daily Pilot reported. 'Video evidence was obtained showing an individual igniting a firework and fleeing the scene, police said.' Because there were no injuries and no immediate threat to structures, Orange County Juvenile Hall didn't accept the 13-year-old and he was released to the custody of his parents. Temps are expected to reach into the low 80s today and tomorrow in Laguna Beach, which could further dry vegetation on those picturesque hillsides and increase fire danger outside of the acreage already scorched by Monday's conflagration. But, provided the Rancho fire is completely extinguished soon and unexpected gusts of wind do not stir any hidden, lingering embers, Laguna Beach, which has been proactive in its fire mitigation plans may escape almost entirely unharmed this time around. If only Pacific Palisades could have been so lucky. • Heidi Plummer, vice president of the Orange County Women Lawyers Assn. and co-founder of the Newport Beach Bock & Plummer firm, is the woman I mentioned in an earlier newsletter who said she was walking in a park June 14 to clear her head following the funeral of a loved one when she was swept up in an ICE raid. My colleague Gabriel San Román interviewed Plummer and her attorney, Jesse Rivera, for this story published Sunday in the Daily Pilot/TimesOC. Rivera's description of the incident: 'Plummer, while peaceably walking in Centennial Park, was stopped, detained, handcuffed, arrested and transported to a federal facility in Santa Ana by individuals dressed in black military fatigues with the identification of ICE on their clothing. The vehicles were unmarked.' An ICE spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, told San Román via email that 'there is no record backing her claims.' • ICE activities may have been the reason behind a 25% dip in attendance this year at the annual Fish Fry held in Costa Mesa's Lions Park the last weekend in June. 'ICE was two blocks away at 19th and Newport, and we didn't know what they were gearing up for, but we were on the lookout,' Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions President Cabot Harvey told the Daily Pilot. 'I spoke to several Latino families who told me the same thing — people were just too afraid to come.' • Area residents who want to preserve the Newport Beach Golf Course as is rather than allow a developer to go forward with a proposed surf lagoon project in the middle of it got together last Thursday for a rally. Benny Hallock, the chairman of the group Save Newport Beach Golf Course, told the Daily Pilot thousands of signatures have been collected in support of saving the popular 18-hole, 59-par executive course at 3100 Irvine Ave. But the Snug Harbor Surf Park project is continues to work its way through the approval stages, with public hearings expected in August and September. • Following up on a tip from a concerned member of the public, officers with Orange County Animal Control rescued at least 120 cats from a residence in the 2600 block of Balfour Avenue in Fullerton, according to this City News Service report. An Animal Control spokesperson said the cats didn't appear to have been mistreated, but that there were just too many of them in the home. Several were ill with some form of a contagious disease and will be treated, then put up for adoption. • Hundreds of people spending their Fourth of July holiday at Orange County beaches had to be rescued by lifeguards after they were caught up in monster rip currents. At Newport Beach, the tally of rescues hit 350 people Friday; at Huntington Beach the number reported the same day was pegged at 152. • Charges were pending as of Monday against a Buena Park homeowner who allegedly operated an illegal Fourth of July fireworks display that misfired at 9:45 p.m. Friday, fatally injuring 8-year-old Jasmine Nguyen of Anaheim, City News Service reported. • In the run-up to Independence Day, Costa Mesa police ran an operation that led to three arrests and the seizure of 1,339 pounds of illegal fireworks, drugs and a gun, the Daily Pilot reported. Suspects involved in the busts were detained for attempting to sell illegal fireworks online to officers who posed as customers and met the would-be sellers at locations around town. • A 21-year-old man from Orange, Nathan Ethan Avina, was arrested Sunday morning after he allegedly fatally struck a pedestrian at the intersection of Atlanta Avenue and Delaware Street in Huntington Beach at about 12:45 am. Sunday. Due to suspected impairment, police arrested Avina at the scene. • Brian Campbell, who was born in Newport Beach and grew up in Irvine, earned his second PGA Tour victory and just over $1.5 million Sunday in a sudden-death playoff at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill. This week the 32-year-old is in Scotland, where the Genesis Scottish Open takes place tomorrow through Monday. • Benjamin Royer, a reporting intern for The Times, dives into a look at how well Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery is faring just three weeks into his current role. In his story, Royer also examines the managerial strategies of Montgomery, as compared to those of Ron Washington, who is out on medical leave from the top job. • One-time Angel Bobby Jenks, a two-time All-Star closer and World Series champion with the Chicago White Sox, died Friday in Portugal, where he was treated for a form of stomach cancer, the team announced Saturday. He was 44. • Seal Beach resident Pat Pattison recently learned one of the 30-minute episodes of his local TV show, 'Pat Pattison's Best of California,' has been nominated for a regional Emmy award. The show airs on Sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m. on MeTV station KAZA-TV Los Angeles. The nominated episode is 'Our World War II: California, Part 1,' which aired last November, according to this Daily Pilot feature story. • Fans of adult romance novels have a new Orange County bookstore that caters especially to them, the Daily Pilot reports, as Mystic Box Bookshop opened in downtown Huntington Beach on June 14. The business is operated by Kate Benito and her husband, Phil, who first established an online presence offering a bimonthly subscription service, where two hardcover books advertised as dark, mafia or forbidden are mailed out to subscribers. Their brick-and-mortar location is at 221 Main St., Huntington Beach and is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. • The Times reports Disneyland's Haunted Mansion will temporarily close beginning Aug. 11 so the ride can undergo its annual transformation into Haunted Mansion Holiday in time for the Halloween season, a makeover inspired by 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.' • The Anaheim Packing District is hosting its annual World Taste event featuring food samples from about 20 different vendors on from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16. Anaheim Packing District at 440 S. Anaheim Blvd. For tickets and additional info, visit • Jazz saxophonist Eric Marienthal presents the Eric Marienthal and Friends concert to benefit the High Hopes Head Injury Program at 6 p.m. this Sunday, July 13. This year's featured guest is Boney James and the event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, 1107 Jamboree Road. VIP tickets are $175; general tickets are $75 and can be purchased here. • For the whole family: Phantom Projects Theatre will present its second annual summer all-youth musical, Seussical, Jr., from July 11 to 27. The production, featuring nearly 70 students between the ages of 8 and 18 from Los Angeles and Orange counties, is offered to the participating kids without charging any fees, tuition, or costume charges. Tickets to the musical can be purchased by calling (714) 690-2900 or visiting the Phantom Projects Theatre website. Until next week,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
02-07-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Trudging across sand, impossible for many, can be made easier. Grants are now available via Coastkeeper
Good morning. It's Wednesday, July 2, which means the Fourth of July is upon us. 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. If you currently live in O.C. and are still deciding how you might celebrate Independence Day, I invite you to scroll down to the Calendar section at the end of this week's newsletter. The local story that most resonated with me over the past several days was essentially a brief look at Orange County Coastkeeper's efforts toward easing the way for people with mobility challenges to make their way across spans of sand to reach the ocean. It's a personal issue for me, as I live with some annoyingly hyper-mobile joints that have propensity to dislocate with the slightest twist or turn, causing me to fall. They can make trudging across the beach for a dip in the beautiful blue Pacific not only embarrassing for me, but sometimes quite painful. The article, written by my colleague Matt Szabo, is about some $300,000 worth of grants funds the nonprofit O.C. Coastkeeper, working with the California State Coastal Conservancy, has announced were made available this year to help organizations purchase, maintain and promote beach accessibility equipment. Such equipment includes items like beach wheelchairs, walkers, mats and kayaks. It's the mats in particular that make my heart sing. They make it possible to walk across the sands in a safe way. The program started in May 2024 and distributed $100,000 during its first round of grants. Applicants can ask for up to $30,000 of funding at a time. Crystal Cove Conservancy was among those to receive a grant and the city of Newport Beach has applied for funds to replace one of its beach wheelchairs. 'I'm just loving doing this whole thing,' Genesee Ouyang, the education director at Orange County Coastkeeper, told Szabo. 'I've been talking about expanding our accessibility efforts since I started working at Coastkeeper, and the fact that this project came around was like destiny. It's really exciting, because this is definitely an issue that everyone agrees on. Literally, nobody that we've interacted with has been like, 'That's a dumb thing to fund.' Everyone is like, 'Wow, that's incredible, we need this.'' Ouyang said there is about $75,000 accounted for in the second round of founding, so $200,000 is not yet spoken for. There is no deadline to apply; the funds are available until they run out. To learn more about the beach and coast accessibility program or to apply for a grant, visit • Santa Ana elected officials are seeking a way out from what some are calling a continued 'occupation' by National Guard troops of the only sanctuary city in Orange County, according to this Daily Pilot/TimesOC story. Santa Ana Councilmember David Peñaloza wrote a letter to Rep. Young Kim, a Republican who represents the 40th congressional district, apprising her of the city's situation and urging her to work with Rep. Lou Correa, a Democrat whose 46th district includes Santa Ana, in demanding the removal of the troops. • In another story related to ICE operations, the L.A. Times reported in this article Monday that seven California Republican lawmakers, including Orange County Assemblywoman Diane Dixon (72nd District), on June 27 sent a letter to President Trump urging him to direct ICE and DHS to focus on targeting violent criminals instead of non-criminal migrants. 'Unfortunately, the recent ICE workplace raids on farms, at construction sites, and in restaurants and hotels, have led to unintended consequences that are harming the communities we represent and the businesses that employ our constituents,' they wrote in their letter. • The U.S. Justice Department last Wednesday sued O.C. Registrar of Voters Bob Page to access records on efforts to remove ineligible voters and accusing his office of failing to maintain an accurate voter list. The registrar identified over a five-year period 17 noncitizens who had registered to vote, Page told the DOJ. Those people either 'self-reported' that they were not citizens or were deemed ineligible, Page said. He sent the names, dates of birth and addresses of those 17 people to federal officials, but, following state law, redacted sensitive information such as Social Security and driver's license numbers. James Steinmann, a supervising deputy counsel for the county, said he asked DOJ officials the day before the suit was filed if it was possible to work around the disclosure of the private information but got no response. • Two Muslim women on Monday filed a federal lawsuit alleging O.C. sheriff's deputies forced them to remove their hijabs, thereby possibly exposing their heads to men, after they were arrested May 15, 2024 at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UC Irvine campus. The suit, announced during a news conference yesterday, names the County of Orange, O.C. Sheriff Don Barnes and unnamed deputies as defendants. 'My hijab is the ultimate sign of my faith,' one of the plaintiffs said. 'This was an attack, not only on myself, but every Muslim woman on that day.' A sheriff's department spokesperson, Carrie Braun, told the Daily Pilot/TimesOC that the claims made during the news conference were 'misleading' and 'inaccurate.' • On a split, 3-2 vote, the Cypress City Council on June 23 approved a $98-million capital improvement program that also gave City Manager Peter Grant the authority to approve some public works projects without seeking council approval, as a pilot program. The council members who dissented expressed reservations related to the fact the council and the public would not be able to see all the details of the contracts Grant approves. • With Costa Mesa Police Chief Ron Lawrence retiring last Friday, Deputy Chief Joyce LaPointe was named his interim replacement, city officials announced. In 2020, LaPointe was sworn in as the CMPD's first female captain and in April 2023, she was promoted to deputy chief, also a first for the department. • The Seal Beach Police Department on June 23 held active shooter training at McGaugh Elementary School, bringing in officers and first responders from neighboring agencies, including the Orange County Fire Authority. Police Capt. Nick Nicholas told the Daily Pilot the deadliest mass shooting to date in the county, the October 12, 2011 Salon Meritage massacre in Seal Beach, was the impetus to stage such drills regularly. • Newport Beach has received a $170,000 grant from FEMA that will allow its police department to participate in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Operation Stonegarden, which aims to enhance cooperation between law enforcement agencies to raise the level of U.S. border and California coastline security. Small vessels known as panga boats, which are often used to smuggle migrants and narcotics into the United States, have been frequently seen off the coast in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. • E-bikes are ubiquitous now, but not all youths who ride them are trained in safe practices. In Huntington Beach, which had 147 e-bike crashes reported in 2024, police recently addressed the issue by instituting a free, police-led student e-bike safety program. A special 70-minute course was launched last Wednesday. Officials said that the Huntington Beach Union High School District is reviewing the program for potential district-wide adoption this fall. If approved, it could become a mandatory requirement for students who ride e-bikes to school. • A self-proclaimed skinhead, Mission Viejo resident Tyson Theodore Mayfield, was convicted June 23 of berating and menacing a pregnant Black woman and threatening the life of her unborn child when he encountered her sitting on a bus bench in Fullerton seven years ago. Mayfield is due back in court Aug. 29 where faces a sentence of at least 38 years in prison. According to the L.A. Times report on the conviction, Mayfield in 2005 was convicted for felony assault with a deadly weapon and felony mayhem in 2008. He was also charged and convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime using a racial slur and punching a man in 2017. • A few crime-related items reported by City News Service over the past week: — Orange County sheriff's investigators yesterday asked for the public's help in finding a hit-and-run driver who allegedly struck down a pedestrian at 10 p.m. Friday at the intersection of La Cresta Drive and Silver Lantern Street in Dana Point. Anyone who might have helpful information is asked to call (949) 425-1860. — Deborah Masako Webb, 62, of Mission Viejo was arrested last week on suspicion of killing a motorcyclist in a collision at Trabuco Road and Via Victoria on the night of June 24. She was booked on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The victim was Anthony Balsamo, 32, also of Mission Viejo. — A man with a criminal history of setting fires was sentenced last week to four years in prison for igniting a small blaze on Williams Canyon Road in Silverado Canyon. Under a plea agreement, Jeremy Ryan Shaw, 45, was given credit for 524 days he'd already served behind bars. — Johnell Marquise Jackson, a 40-year-old Fullerton resident, was sentenced last Wednesday to 100 years to life in prison for shooting a man outside a store in Santa Ana over a dispute sparked by two vehicles touching bumpers in a Santa Ana parking lot on Feb. 18, 2024. • Kobee Minor, the last pick in the NFL draft this year, was feted last week as the the 50th Mr. Irrelevant, a longtime annual tradition in Newport Beach. Minor hails from a town 35 miles northwest of Dallas and, according to this Daily Pilot feature, had never before visited a beach. Minor played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Indiana Hoosiers and the Memphis Tigers before the New England Patriots chose him in this year's draft, giving him the ticket to be honored locally as Mr. Irrelevant. • Professional golfer and Costa Mesa resident Jake Knapp broke the Detroit Golf Club record during the second round of the Rocket Classic tournament, just one day after two other players, Kevin Roy and Aldrich Potgieter set it during the first round. You can find the Detroit Free Press report on the feat here. (By the end of the third day 20-year-old Potgieter, the youngest player on the tour, emerged as tournament champ.) • Angels manager Ron Washington, 73, who stepped aside from his duties a little over a week ago to undisclosed health concerns, will remain on medical leave for the rest of the season, it was announced Friday. Bench coach Ray Montgomery was named interim manager. • The 89th annual Flight of Newport boat race, presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the Balboa Yacht Club, will take place on Sunday, July 13. There is no charge to enter the race. Each registered participant, who must provide their own boat, will receive a Flight of Newport T-shirt. For more information and to sign up, visit • Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire will be the beneficiary of funds raised during the 5th annual Pickleball for Wishes Tournament set for Saturday, Aug. 2, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Beach, 11 Newport Drive. Pickleball newbies can join a free beginner's clinic in the morning, followed by tournaments for advanced, intermediate and beginner players. Spectator tickets, team entries and corporate sponsor teams are available at • Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar is planning its Hummingbird Summer showcase, which will open July 11 and run through Aug. 10, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Shoppers can round up their purchase to the nearest dollar and Roger's Gardens has pledged to match the donation, with the proceeds going to the Sea and Sage Audubon Society, an Orange County chapter of the National Audubon Society. • As promised, here's a list that was curated by my colleague Sarah Mosqueda of some of the professional fireworks displays planned for Friday night. You can learn more information about each of them and additional activities here, on the Daily Pilot/TimesOC website.— Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina, 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach. Fireworks at 9 p.m.— Doheny State Beach, 25300 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point. Fireworks at 9 p.m.— The Great Park, 8000 Great Park Blvd., Irvine. Fireworks at 9 p.m. Also, the Pacific Symphony will perform music of Jimmy Buffett, the Beach Boys and more from 8 to 10:15 p.m. on the stage at Great Park Live. Tickets start at $44. For more details, email info@ or call the box office at (714) 755-5799.— Huntington Beach Pier, 325 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach. Fireworks at 9 p.m— Heisler Park, 361 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. Fireworks at 9 p.m.— Laguna Niguel Regional Park, 28241 La Paz Road, Laguna Niguel. Fireworks at 9 p.m.— Tustin 4th of July Celebration, 1171 El Camino Real, Tustin. Fireworks at 9 p.m.— Centennial Park, 3000 W. Edinger Ave., Santa Ana. Fireworks at 8:45 p.m. I'll leave you with this thought as the star-spangled weekend nears during this year of turmoil. It's attributed to Elmer Davis (1890-1958), an American journalist: 'This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.' Wishing you and yours a happy and safe Fourth,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
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Santa Ana officials want the National Guard removed. But how?
The California National Guard and its Humvees are no longer blocking vehicle traffic through 4th Street in downtown Santa Ana while protests against federal immigration sweeps have quieted down. But as a legal battle between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Trump administration ensues over who controls the troops, Santa Ana elected officials are seeking a way out from what some are calling a continued 'occupation' of the only sanctuary city in Orange County. Santa Ana Councilmember David Peñaloza penned a letter to Rep. Young Kim, a Republican, on June 18 apprising her of the situation, as her 40th congressional district does not include Santa Ana. 'The deployment of the National Guard into Santa Ana has terrified our families and paralyzed our downtown,' his letter stated. 'Foot traffic has dried up. Stores are closing early. Families are staying home not because of crime, but because of intimidation from our own federal government.' Peñaloza's stern letter urged Kim to work with Rep. Lou Correa, a Democrat, whose 46th congressional district encompasses Santa Ana, in demanding the removal of the National Guard, which President Trump made the controversial move to mobilize in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids earlier this month. 'I made the letter very public because the whole point was to get other residents to reach out to her office,' Peñaloza told TimesOC. 'Her chief of staff replied within a couple minutes, actually, with a simple 'thank you.'' In a statement to TimesOC, Kim claimed some protesters in Santa Ana had 'escalated violence toward law enforcement' but peace was restored. 'Residents shouldn't be living in fear, and ICE's immigration efforts should be focused on finding illegal immigrants with criminal records in our communities and be in coordination with local law enforcement,' she said. 'I have voiced our community's concerns to the administration, and I will continue to work to fix our broken immigration system.' Kim did not directly address the question of the National Guard's presence. Peñaloza confirmed that the strategy of reaching out to Kim arose out of a series of conference calls between local law enforcement, city officials and U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, a Trump appointee, over the troop presence around federal buildings in Santa Ana. Though he did not attend any meetings himself, Peñaloza received word that Essayli suggested local officials reach out to Republican lawmakers if they wanted any progress on the National Guard. A day before Peñaloza's letter, Kim led a delegation of California Republican representatives in introducing a House resolution condemning 'riots' in Los Angeles where the National Guard is predominately deployed. 'The riots escalated before the National Guard was sent in and were enabled by California's soft-on-crime policies,' Kim claimed in a press release. The resolution thanked the Orange County Sheriff's Department, among other law enforcement agencies, which sent 138 staff to Los Angeles County in response to protests on June 8. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes confirmed his participation in meetings with Essayli about the National Guard's presence closer to home. 'The National Guard's role in demonstrations at the local level should be limited to the protection of federal buildings and assets,' Barnes told TimesOC. 'National Guard members do not have the benefit of training alongside local law enforcement to prepare for managing demonstrations and ensure they remain safe and lawful. It proves difficult to blend resources and can result in a variable response.' During a contentious, 10-hour long Santa Ana City Council meeting on June 17, Councilmember Thai Viet Phan addressed the National Guard issue directly with city officials. 'We had our officers go out there to secure the federal building… in an effort to prevent the National Guard from coming to Santa Ana,' Phan said. Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez affirmed the notion. 'The city cannot directly remove the National Guard,' City Atty. Sonia Carvalho added. 'We don't have the resources to make that happen, if the governor can't make that happen.' Santa Ana Councilmember Jessie Lopez credited protests in the city and demands made by the public at the council meeting for the National Guard's diminished presence. 'We have to make sure that we are consistently vocalizing our dissent against the National Guard being in our community,' she told TimesOC. 'We can send letters to representatives like Young Kim, but she has made it very clear through her actions that her loyalty lies — not with the [U.S.] Constitution, not with Californians — but with the MAGA-wing of her party.' Lopez won't be writing a letter to Kim's office. As Santa Ana officials differ on how to achieve the same objective, downtown businesses continue to suffer. Ana Laura Padilla co-owns Perla Mexican Cuisine, which is across the street from the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on 4th Street, where troops remain on guard. She wonders how bored troops must be with next to nothing to do. The restaurant has fallen on more idle times, itself. 'Business has dropped dramatically,' Padilla said. 'It's been very hard on my employees, too. We've had to cut a lot of hours because we're not very busy.' Padilla doesn't believe the message has gotten out about the streets reopening as far as her customers are concerned. 'We're not breaking even, at all,' she said. Padilla recalled Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 during the pandemic when fencing and boarded up windows protected the federal building across the street from her restaurant. She said the National Guard response, this time, was 'too much.' Protests on June 9 led to 11 arrests with the National Guard stationed in downtown Santa Ana the following morning. But no protests have occurred in the city since at least June 22, according to Natalie Garcia, a Santa Ana police spokesperson. Rep. Correa questions the rationale behind the troop deployment, especially as protests have cooled off and small businesses continue to be impacted. 'You deal with the facts,' Correa told TimesOC. 'Everything has been relatively peaceful, especially for the past few days. What's the purpose?' His Congressional office remains focused on cases related to ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrests in his district, including Narciso Barranco, a landscaper punched by a masked federal agent in a viral video. But Correa signaled a willingness to work with Kim on the National Guard issue. 'Having the National Guard is not the right call,' he said. 'I'll work with everyone that wants to work with me. I would love to work with her on this issue.'
Los Angeles Times
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Chilled by fear: ICE raids cast a pall over Orange County households, businesses
Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 25. 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. The stories about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Orange County keep coming. There are reports of restaurants and other businesses struggling, either due to having decimated staffs or a precipitous drop in customers — including Latino American citizens who are afraid to set foot outside their homes lest they be whisked into vans by masked men and taken to a detention center. If one of the goals of the Department of Homeland Security with the local ICE operation tactics is to sow fear, that mission has been accomplished, based on what TimesOC's Gabriel San Román reported from a day out in the field when he interviewed vendors at Anaheim Indoor Marketplace, day laborers on the street and a restaurateur in Santa Ana. At the marketplace, where many stands have been shuttered and remaining operators are worried they won't be able to pay rent, one vendor who asked not to be identified despite the fact they are a U.S. citizen, acknowledged the somber mood hovering in the air and the dearth of customers. 'Hopefully, things will get better soon,' the vendor told the reporter. 'But right now, it seems like [ICE] is approaching anyone who is Latino.' One incident that came to our attention last week is the experience of a Newport Beach attorney with a 'very American name,' as she said, who was walking in an O.C. park when she was detained by ICE agents, handcuffed and transported to a processing center. 'There was no warning, no rhyme or reason...,' the attorney told Douglas Sanders of the Daily Journal, who broke the story. '...Their goal was to get as many people as they could into their vans and go. Act fast, ask questions after the fact, and let the consequences be damned.' She said that about an hour and a half after she was hustled to the center she was told she could leave. She had to find her own way home, though. The L.A. Times reported that Narciso Barranco, an immigrant whose son Alejandro says had recently applied to become a U.S. citizen, was working outside of a Santa Ana IHOP on Saturday when he was violently detained by several masked federal agents. The encounter was documented on a video that went viral showing Barranco being taken down, pinned and punched over and over again by the agents after he'd tried unsuccessfully to run away from them. 'The younger Barranco told The Times on Sunday that his father was pepper sprayed and beaten, and that his shoulder was dislocated,' the paper reported. 'After speaking with him Sunday at about 6 p.m., Barranco said his father had not received medical treatment, food or water after more than 24 hours in a detention facility in Los Angeles.' There are, of course, two sides to the story. Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security, alleged in a statement to The Times on Monday that the 48-year-old Barranco, whom she described as an 'illegal alien,' had 'swung a weed whacker directly at an agent's face and refused to comply with the agents' commands or requests to identify himself.' She also said the report of the dislocated shoulder was false. Alejandro Barranco, 25, is a veteran of the U.S. Marines and his two younger brothers, Emanuel and José Luis Barranco, are active-duty members. He said Marines who have been deployed to protect federal property and ICE personnel probably have mixed feelings about the state of affairs, according to The Times. 'I know they love their country, they want to serve their country, but I'm also sure that they love their parents and they love their family members who are undocumented. I'm pretty sure we're all pushing for the same thing,' he said, 'which is a change in our system.' • The former NFL kicker who in February was arrested for his act of civil disobedience during a Huntington Beach City Council meeting has decided he'll run for office. Activist Chris Kluwe, a Democrat, said last week he plans to campaign in the 2026 elections against current Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark, one of the 'MAGA-nificent 7' (in Tony Strickland's words) members of the H.B. City Council, to represent Assembly District 72. The district includes the cities of Aliso Viejo, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Newport Beach and Seal Beach. • One of Van Der Mark's colleagues on the Huntington Beach City Council, Mayor Pat Burns, muttered an obscene epithet about a woman addressing the council during a meeting last week that was caught on a live microphone, generating an outcry. You can read about his latest gaffe and what led up to it in this Daily Pilot story. • Given the unpredictable state of local and national economy, the Costa Mesa City Council last week agreed with four employee unions to a one-year contract, rather than a longer term, that will provide a total of $3.5 million in salary and benefit increases to city employees. • Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing: At Home, a home goods retailer based in Texas that operates 260 stores in 40 states is shuttering several SoCal locations, including stores on El Camino Real in Tustin and on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa as it tries to recover from a slowdown in sales and the effects of inflation and tariffs. Both Orange County locations are advertising a store closing sale on their websites. • Kwong 'Tony' Chun Sit, 53, an Irvine animal trainer, was arrested last Thursday night on suspicion of animal cruelty and destruction of evidence in connection with the death of 11 dogs belonging to his clients, including nine whose bodies were recovered by police. He and his co-defendant, Tingfeng Liu, 23, of Vista, were arraigned Monday. Both pleaded not guilty. • A large crowd surrounded and allegedly assaulted Santa Ana police officers who were trying to make an arrest of a man for drinking in public at around 2 a.m. Sunday. When the dust settled, five people were arrested and three officers were injured with cuts and abrasions, City News Service reported. The incident occurred on the 300 block of West Third Street, according to police. • Artist and filmmaker Daniel Winn spent more than a year creating two large bronze and stainless steel sculptures that were stolen from an Anaheim Hills warehouse the weekend of June 14-15 and later recovered from a trailer parked on an Anaheim driveway last Friday, The Times reports. The sculptures, 'Icarus Within' and 'Quantum Mechanics: Homme,' are valued at a combined $2.1 million and there was concern the thief (or thieves) might sell them for scrap. Anaheim police say the case is still under investigation. Four players from Newport Harbor High, past and present, helped the Team USA Junior National team earn a silver medal at the World Aquatics Under-20 World Championships in Croatia over the weekend. Team USA fell to Spain, 14-11, in the gold medal match on Saturday. Contributors for the U.S. included 2023 Sailors graduate Ben Liechty and 2024 alumnus Peter Castillo, both now at UCLA. Gavin Appeldorn, a 2024 graduate now at Princeton, and incoming Sailors senior Connor Ohl also contributed for Team USA. Ohl recently committed to Stanford. Costa Mesa native Landon Akerstrom, a Mater Dei graduate who now plays for UC San Diego, also helped the cause. • In other water polo news, the Fischer sisters of Laguna Beach, Makenzie and Aria, were feted Friday in a USA water polo national team retirement ceremony. The team's coach, Adam Krikorian, told the Daily Pilot that Makenzie Fischer, who was a water polo standout at Laguna Beach High as well as Stanford, 'could literally be the best player in the world.' Her younger sister, Aria, played on three CIF championship teams at Laguna Beach and the Stanford team that captured three NCAA titles. Their dad, Erich Fischer, who still coaches at Laguna Beach, was a two-time national champion in water polo at Stanford and an Olympian in 1992. • The Anaheim Ducks, who have not made it to the NHL playoffs for seven years, traded center Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday for forward Ryan Poehling and the 45th overall pick in the upcoming draft, along with a fourth-round pick next season, the L.A. Times reports. • Petey the Surf Dog, a 6-year-old Westie, won the small dog competition at the 28th annual Purina Pure Plan Incredible Dog Challenge Western Regionals for the second straight year on Friday in Huntington Beach. Koa, an 11-year-old Labrador from Carlsbad, was also a repeat winner in the large dog competition at the event. • The life of the late Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, who died June 11 at 82, was celebrated Saturday in Huntington Beach, where a paddle out ceremony was held in his memory. Dean Torrence of the surf -rock duo Jan and Dean was a featured speaker. He told the crowd that when he asked Wilson in 1963 if he could write a song for their use, he learned Wilson was working on two pieces that were contenders for the Beach Boys' next single, but they both sounded similar so he was willing to part with one. The songs were 'Surfin' U.S.A' and 'Surf City' and Wilson told Torrence he was leaning toward keeping 'Surfin' U.S.A' 'He said 'If you want the other song, you can finish it, I don't care,' so we took the song,' Torrence recalled. Eight weeks later, he said, 'Surf City' was the No. 1 song in the U.S. • O.C. resident Christine Mulholland has started a new podcast called 'What's Going On?' that seeks to expand environmental consciousness. The Daily Pilot caught up with Mulholland for this feature story about the entrepreneur, who said she can trace her interest in nature back to when she was 5 and convinced the neighbhood kids to help her round up earthworms that had been displaced by rains and put them back into the turf where they belonged. Mulholland in 2012 co-founded an environmental and wildlife conservation nonprofit called Generation Awakening. In 2018, she put on a 5K 'Race Against Extinction' locally that raised more than $40,000 to protect endangered species and their habitats. • The heroic efforts 100 years ago this month by famed Hawaiian swimmer and surfer Duke Kahanamoku and others who saved several lives when a fishing boat was toppled by waves in Corona del Mar were celebrated by Sherman Library & Gardens during a special fundraiser toward creating a bronze plaque commemorating the 'Great Rescue' of June 14, 1925. • Works by Korean American artist Wendy Park are showcased in a solo exhibition 'Of Our Own' now through through July 19 at Various Small Fires OC gallery, 119 N. Prospect Ave., Tustin. It's open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. • This is the month of the annual Wurst Fest at Old World Biergarten in Huntington Beach, where guests can enjoy bratwurst, soft pretzels, sauerkraut and German beers this Saturday and Sunday. Check out this list of exotic sausages also offered while supplies last: smoked alligator andouille, smoked elk sausage with bacon and cheddar, smoked venison sausage with port wine and potato, duck and bacon sausage with jalapeño pepper, rattlesnake and rabbit with jalapeño pepper, rabbit and pork with leeks and carrots, and venison sausage with merlot blueberries. Saturday's hours are noon to 10 p.m., Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. • Laguna Beach's storied Sawdust Art Festival opens this Friday and runs through Aug. 31. Now in its 59th year, the event will feature the works of more than 185 artists, live music and festival fun, according to organizers. There are special nights when Orange County residents with valid ID can enter at no charge. Visit the festival website to learn when residents of your city can take advantage of the offer. Scroll down the page to the 'Plan Your Visit' section to locate the schedule of dates and cities. 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
