Local Orange County News

Daily Pilot e-newspaper: Friday, Aug. 16, 2024

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 02:06:25 +0000

The Daily Pilot's e-newspaper includes Friday's coverage of Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Fountain Valley and other parts of Orange County.

Laguna Beach Unified continues focus on ‘whole child,’ rolls out preschool program

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 01:05:48 +0000

Laguna Beach Unified School District will introduce a new student well space at Thurston Middle, a preschool program at El Morro Elementary, and a new principal at Top of the World Elementary.

With just days to go, Newport-Mesa Unifed preps for 'an amazing school year'

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:56:46 +0000

From new faces and school supplies to facility and curriculum developments, 33 NMUSD campuses are sprucing up ahead of the Monday start of the 2024-25 academic year.

Personal arrangements: Newport Beach co-op space features local businesses and talent

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:09:03 +0000

All resident businesses at Seaside Gallery and Goods will offer discounts starting at 10% off on Thursday and Friday.

After 52 years, Little Onion Mexican Restaurant in Santa Ana close will close its doors

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 23:39:47 +0000

Aug. 30 will be the last day of service for the family-owned Mexican restaurant established in 1972.

Orange County woman who cooked for FDNY personnel after 9/11 will speak on the 'Power of One'

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 21:53:25 +0000

Former restaurant owner Janet “Angie” Kardashian will share highlights from her two-year journey and items gifted to her by grateful FDNY personnel during a Sept. 8 talk at the Costa Mesa Historical Society marking the 2001 tragedy.

Pacifica Christian girls’ volleyball outlasts Costa Mesa

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:15:14 +0000

The Tritons rally to defeat the host Mustangs 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8 on Thursday in a nonleague girls’ volleyball match. Both teams are 1-1 to start the season.

University Lab Partners finds formula that 'ROCKs' for aspiring life science students

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:00:32 +0000

The Irvine-based nonprofit wet lab and medtech incubator held its third annual ROCK the Science event earlier this month.

Orange County sues Viet American Society for misuse of millions in federal funding

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 18:24:53 +0000

Orange County is suing a nonprofit group and its officers alleging the group misused millions of dollars of federal funding for personal use.

The lawsuit alleged the Viet American Society used more than $10 million to buy several homes and make cash withdrawals.

The money was meant to help seniors during the pandemic, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court Thursday.

One of the defendants named in the lawsuit is Rhiannon Do, who is the daughter of Orange County supervisor Andrew Do.

The 39-page complaint detailed what county investigators uncovered about how VAS was awarded millions of dollars in pandemic relief funds, which were allocated to provide meals for seniors and the disabled in the Vietnamese community.

The lawsuit comes after two supervisors, including Katrina Foley, asked for an audit of the public funding of the group.

“The funds were being used for personal expenses including purchasing of real property instead of being used to serve the needs of the Vietnamese community,” said Foley who represents the Fifth District. “We’ve been overboard trying to help them do the right thing and prove that the funds were used for the intended purpose which was to help people.”

The lawsuit alleged VAS officers used public funds to buy at least six homes in Orange County including in Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fountain Valley and Santa Ana.

The complaint also detailed a $1 million payment to the group to build a memorial for veterans.

“According to our investigators, they cannot prove they used the funds for these purposes and we don’t have a memorial so we know that didn’t happen,” Foley said.

The lawsuit is seeking Viet American Society to pay back the county $10.4 million.

NBC4 reached out to Supervisor Do’s office and the lawyer representing VAS for comment but has not heard back.

Newsom signs legislative crime package addressing organized retail theft

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:00:24 +0000

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed 10 bills in what he is calling an unprecedented effort to combat escalating retail crimes and car thefts.

Matthew Perry's shocking last month on ketamine: 'I wonder how much this moron will pay'

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:47:31 +0000

In announcing arrests in the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, authorities unveiled a disturbing narrative of the weeks leading up to his final day.

Here’s what’s hampering (and could help) forests as fire season heats up

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 13:28:37 +0000

Firefighters are stretched thin battling major blazes across the West thanks to a rapid start to the season.

Real estate agent commission rules change Saturday. Here's what you need to know

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 10:00:29 +0000

On Aug. 17, the rules governing real estate agent commissions are changing. Some experts say the shift should eventually reduce costs for consumers.

Real estate news: Former rehab campus in Orange transitioning to affordable apartments

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 08:48:54 +0000

Work has begun on what will soon be a 166-unit affordable apartment complex in Orange for low-income residents over the age of 55.

The Orion, under development by USA Properties Fund and Riverside Charitable Corp., is taking the place of the former Rehabilitation Institute of Southern California. The property at 1800 E. La Veta Ave. encompasses 3.85-acre property.

While ground recently was broken for the new complex, demolition continues on the RIO campus.

When complete, apartments at The Orion will be available to residents who meet certain income requirements.

Amenities will include a clubroom, fitness area, a dog park and an on-site senior services center.

Residents over 55 must earn between 30% and 70% of the area median income for Orange County, which is about $37,860 to $88,340 for a two-person household. Those income requirements will likely shift before the apartment community is completed.

Rents will range from $806 to $1,990 for a one-bedroom apartment, and $965 to $2,376 for a two-bedroom unit, based on the income of residents.

The $64 million development is funded by a public-private partnership among the city of Orange, Orange County, Orange County Housing Finance Trust, Orange County Health Care Agency, Bank of America, Citibank and Safehold.

In addition to lender financing, here’s what each organization is contributing to The Orion:

Orange County Housing Finance Trust: $500,000

County of Orange: $920,000 plus the eight project-based vouchers (for eight supportive housing units)

City of Orange: $2.2 million

Riverside Charitable: $4 million

USA Properties Fund will manage The Orion, which will have three- and four-story buildings. The architect for the project is AO in Orange.

This eight-unit apartment property in Garden Grove sold recently for $2.22 million. The two-story building includes seven one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit, all of which were recently renovated. (Photo courtesy of CBRE)

Garden Grove apartment building sells for $2.2 million

An eight-unit apartment property in Garden Grove sold recently for $2.22 million or $278,125 per unit , according to CBRE.

CBRE said the property includes seven one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit, all of which were recently renovated.

The 5,076-square-foot, two-story apartment building at 10651 Tibbs Circle was built in 1960 on a 9,224-square-foot lot.

Recent improvements include new vinyl plank flooring, countertops, wall fixtures and lights, stainless steel appliances, cabinet hardware and handles, bathroom vanities, toilets and bathroom fixtures and new windows in select units.

Harbor West Medical Plaza, a 12,760-square-foot office property in La Habra, sold in early Aug. for $1.85 million. (Photo courtesy of Marcus & Millichap)

Medical building in La Habra fetches $1.85 million

Harbor West Medical Plaza, a 12,760-square-foot office property in La Habra, sold in early August for $1.85 million in an all-cash transaction, according to Marcus & Millichap.

The seller of the building was cashing out and sold the property to retire, executives at the brokerage said. The building fetched several offers and sold in 15 days.

The two-story building at 860 East La Habra Blvd. has 22 suites, most of them occupied at the time of the sale, Marcus & Millichap said.

David Arnold is the new director of Finance and Business Operations at MVE + Partners, an architecture, planning and design firm in Irvine. (Photo courtesy of MVE)

Industry people on the move

David Arnold is the new director of Finance and Business Operations at MVE + Partners, an architecture, planning, interior design and urban design firm in Irvine. He will be responsible for collaborating on the firm’s long-term strategy and goals. Arnold previously founded Hillcrest Homes, a real estate development firm that entitled some 12,000 lots in Southern California. He also was chief financial officer at Brookfield Homes Southland and director of land acquisition at Lewis Group of Cos.

The real estate roundup is compiled from news releases and written by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items and high-resolution photos via email to sgowen@scng.com. Please allow at least a week for publication. All items are subject to editing for clarity and length.

Felix Continental Cafe in Old Towne Orange closing after 45 years

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 07:00:42 +0000

A venerable institution in Old Towne Orange since 1979, Felix Continental Cafe, known for its Cuban and Spanish fare, will close its doors at the end of the month.

Al Ricci, landlord of the property in Old Towne Orange, confirmed the news. “I’m sorry to see it go,” he said. “It added a lot to Old Towne. It was different, not just another pizza.”

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According to Ricci, the owner of Felix Continental Cafe sold the restaurant. A new, unannounced eatery will move into the space. No one at Felix Continental Cafe was willing to speak about the upcoming closure.

Opened in 1979 by cousins Ramon and Tomas Calderon, Felix Continental Cafe — considered a cherished unofficial landmark for many Orange denizens changed its concept over the years, going from waiters donning cummerbunds and ties, and linen napkins to a more casual sidewalk-cafe eatery with breakfast specials and patio dining. But its roots stayed firmly planted in Caribbean, Cuban and Spanish dishes.

The expansive menu at Felix includes dishes like like revoltillo de salchicha (eggs with sausage, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and cheese) tortilla de plantanos (a three-egg omelet with fried plantain), paella, Caribbean-style swordfish and Cubano sandwiches, to name a few.

Unconfirmed rumors swirled on social media about a rent increase being the cause for the closure. According to Ricci, the closure “had nothing to do with the rent” and that the second-generation owner, Carlos Calderon, “just felt burnt out.”

Rent prices in recent years have skyrocketed in Old Towne Orange, as well as the rest of Orange County. Most notably, Watson’s Soda Fountain & Cafe, a century-old institution, shuttered in 2022; owner Billy Skeffington cited rising rent and costs of business as the reasons for closure.

Today, the famed circle plays host to a half dozen contemporary cafes, modern pizzerias and a Cali Dumplings, which opened on July 1.

State grants $29M to convert Costa Mesa Travelodge into 76 units of supportive housing

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 02:55:05 +0000

The aging and underutilized inn at 1400 Bristol St. will offer permanent housing for formerly homeless and at-risk residents, veterans and seniors, as well as on-site support services.

Newport Beach City Council hopefuls weigh in on housing, homelessness and more in first candidate forum

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 02:18:01 +0000

Candidates met to weigh in on issues as they vie for three open seats, of seven, on the Newport Beach dais.

Man's body found along Santa Ana River Trail

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 02:13:08 +0000

Police are investigating after a man's body was found along the Santa Ana River Trail.

On Wednesday, Santa Ana police responded to reports of a body spotted in a dirt-landscaped area near 2100 W. 17th Street.

The man was identified as Raul Beltran, a 51-year-old resident of Santa Ana.

Officers began investigating the case as a suspicious death after Beltran was found with visible injuries.

The injuries are believed to have been caused by “blunt force trauma consistent with a potential traffic collision,” police said.

It's unclear when the man died. No suspect was found at the scene as the circumstances surrounding Beltran’s death remain under investigation.

His official cause of death will be determined by the Orange County Coroner’s Office.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Detective Sergeant R. Shin at 714-245-8294 or the Santa Ana Police Department’s Traffic Division at 714-245-8200.

Orange County sues Huntington Beach nonprofit led by Do's daughter, alleges misappropriation of millions of dollars

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 02:02:08 +0000

Huntington Beach-based Viet America Society is the target of a lawsuit filed Thursday by Orange County, alleging millions of dollars in pandemic funding was misappropriated by the nonprofit.

A 12-foot-long harbinger of doom washed ashore in San Diego

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 23:34:59 +0000

A group of kayakers and snorkelers came across a rare deep-sea oarfish floating in the waters off San Diego.

Kratom regulations shelved in California amid battle between advocacy groups

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 23:32:56 +0000

A California bill that would have imposed regulations on kratom products has been shelved. Kratom is a substance derived from a tree native to Southeast Asia that is sold in the U.S. in powder, capsule and extract form.

Orange County native closing in on childhood dream of competing in Paralympics

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 21:00:00 +0000

Clayton Brackett, the Fullerton-born and Irvine-raised athlete, is headed to Paris to fulfill his childhood dream of competing in the Paralympics.

Brackett will be competing in wheelchair rugby, a sport that wasn’t part of his original plan.

“It’s been a really long journey for me personally,” said Brackett. “I definitely had the childhood dream of making the Paralympics as a kid. I thought it was wheelchair basketball.”

The 31-year-old, who now lives in Alabama, spent his earlier years on the hardwood shooting hoops. It wasn’t until someone introduced him to rugby that Brackett never looked back.

“Here I am today playing wheelchair rugby at the highest of stages pretty neat,” said Bracket.

The Paralympian is one of more than two dozen athletes coming from California to represent Team USA in the Paralympics. A journey that has been anything but easy.

At two years old Brackett suffered a spinal cord injury that left him in a wheelchair, but his family says his disability never defined him.

“Clayton to this day – is a person that wants to complete and finish anything he starts,” said his mother, Jennifer Hilborn.

Brackett’s determination has now taken him to his first Paralympic Games, where he and his expanding family will be there cheering him on.

“My wife – who is pregnant is going to be there with her mom as well! We are very excited to bring in a baby boy in January and hopefully getting the gold medal along with it it’s just been an incredible year for me,” said Brackett.

The Paralympics kick off on Aug. 28 and “Clay” as his family calls him, competes against Canada the next day.

Column: Can AI dream up a more sustainable Los Angeles?

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 13:00:14 +0000

An art exhibit at USC's campus on Catalina Island uses artificial intelligence to propose bold ideas.

Laguna Beach residents vs. beachgoers: Tensions are reaching a boiling point

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 12:40:48 +0000

Laguna Beach residents have pushed city officials to get a handle on what they call 'destructive tourism.'

Armed robbery suspect targets Orange County check cashing business

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 03:05:12 +0000

Surveillance video captured the moment an armed suspect attempted to rob a check cashing business in Santa Ana.

On Aug, 7, the suspect entered Main Street International Check Cashing located at 1425 North Main Street, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

Surveillance video captured the man quickly approaching the front counter and handing a note to the female teller.

The note read, in Spanish, “Put all the money you have in this bag quickly.” While handing the teller the note, the man also told the woman, “Don’t push any buttons or alarms,” before brandishing a weapon from his waistband.

The suspect was caught on surveillance camera fleeing the Santa Ana store on Aug. 7, 2024. The note he handed to the teller written in Spanish can be seen. (Santa Ana Police Department)
The suspect hands a note to the teller before brandishing a weapon during an attempted robbery in Santa Ana on Aug. 7, 2024. (Santa Ana Police Department)
The suspect hands a note to the teller and pushes a brown papaer bag toward her before brandishing a weapon during an attempted robbery in Santa Ana on Aug. 7, 2024. (Santa Ana Police Department)

The woman pauses and stares at the man for a moment when she realizes what is happening. The suspect continually pushed what appeared to be a paper bag toward the woman. She quickly pushes the panic alarm button and runs to the back of the business for safety.

Upon realizing what had happened, the male suspect runs out of the store and was last seen heading northbound on Main Street.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic male around 40 to 45 years old. He is around 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes, a mustache and a thin build.

He was last seen wearing a blue baseball cap with the word “California,” on it, a blue tank top, black pants, and sunglasses.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect or has additional information on the case can call Detective A. Gomez at 714-245-8748.

Surveillance footage of the incident can be seen in the video player above.

Police shoot and kill man seen fatally stabbing his mother in Irvine

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 05:55:48 +0000

Police shot and killed a man who was seen fatally stabbing his mother in an Irvine neighborhood Thursday.

Irvine police responded to reports of an assault at a home near Green Tree Lane and Coral Tree Lane at around 2:50 p.m.

Neighbors called the police after hearing a woman screaming on the quiet residential street. Arriving officers spotted the man actively attacking and stabbing a woman outside their home.

That’s when police opened fire, shooting and killing the adult male suspect. The female victim was also pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the incident was prompted by a domestic dispute, but the moments leading up to the fatal stabbing remain unclear.

Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)
Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)
Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)
Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)
Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)
Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)
Police shot and killed a suspect who was seen stabbing a female family member outside an Irvine home on August 8, 2024. (KTLA)

“This is definitely very tragic for our community,” said Kyle Oldoerp, an Irvine police spokesperson. “We’re committed to investigating this incident and finding out exactly why this happened.”

Neighbors in the area were shocked at the deadly confrontation in a community that is otherwise safe and filled with older residents.

"What I saw, I just can get it out of my head," said Marco Rodriguez, a neighbor who witnessed the incident. "I saw two bodies — one on the driveway and one on the sidewalk."

"A mother and son were struggling and that's very hard to hear," said Eftemia Papadopoulos, a neighbor.

Thursday’s officer-involved shooting marks the second deadly incident in Irvine this week after a former caregiver was killed by police for the alleged murder of a paralyzed man.

“This is very unique for our city, to have an officer-involved shooting and to have two so close together,” Oldoerp said.

The victims’ identities for Thursday’s fatal shooting were not released. The knife used in the fatal stabbing was also recovered by officers.

Investigators are searching for video that may have captured the deadly encounter as two separate investigations — one of the stabbing attack and the other of the officer-involved shooting — are underway.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Irvine Police Department at 949-724-7000.

Mission Viejo to host Dutch athletes for 2028 Los Angeles Olympic training

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 16:46:46 +0000

Mission Viejo will serve as the Netherlands Olympic Team (Team NL)’s training site for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the city of Mission Viejo and TeamNL announced.

The Dutch will start training as early as 2026 for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Facilities in Mission Viejo and surrounding communities will serve as their training spots for sports including athletics, swimming, and team sports such as handball and volleyball, among others.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our community to be able to support athletes and coaches from TeamNL prior to their respective LA28 Games,” said Mayor Trish Kelley. “Mission Viejo has a long history of supporting Olympians and Paralympians from around the world, and we believe our world-class facilities will properly prepare TeamNL for LA28.”

Many countries get to choose a place to train locally before the Olympics, and with teams currently focused on the 2024 Paris Olympics, Mission Viejo wanted to make sure to “be ahead of the game.”

“We are just outside the busy zone of LA, which adds to the appeal of Mission Viejo. Athletes can focus on training with limited distractions,” Mark Nix, director of Recreation and Community Services for Mission Viejo, said.

The city will not be doing construction nor making adjustments to what’s currently available to the Dutch, stating the community’s “warm welcome” is what won the team over.

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“We are extremely grateful to Mission Viejo and the City’s willingness to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes prior to the LA Games,” said André Cats, Technical and Games Director TeamNL. “Our staff and coaches have certainly been impressed with the resources the City is able to offer in order to make it a successful training experience for our delegations prior to the 2028 Games.”

The Netherlands has won nearly 500 Olympic medals, including 25 medals so far at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Video captures suspects stabbing man in violent Santa Ana attack

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 03:15:26 +0000

Video captured the moment a group of suspects stabbed a man multiple times during a violent confrontation in Santa Ana.

The wanted suspects were identified as:

Andrew Gonzalez, 18
Eyving Vasquez, 18
Jose Mandujanofierros, 21

On Tuesday, Santa Ana police responded to an assault near Diamond Street and Fairview Street around noontime.

Video of the violent confrontation showed three suspects surrounding a male victim on the street. As the victim scuffled with the suspects, the three men, all armed with knives, were seen stabbing him multiple times in the torso.

The victim fled from the scene after the stabbing as the three suspects walked away.

The victim was found lying on the sidewalk with multiple stab wounds to his abdomen near McFadden Avenue and Sullivan Street. Paramedics rushed the man to a hospital where he survived the attack.

Three suspects were seen stabbing and assaulting a man in Santa Ana on August 6, 2024. (Santa Ana Police Department)
Three suspects were seen stabbing and assaulting a man in Santa Ana on August 6, 2024. (Santa Ana Police Department)
A suspect, Eyving Vasquez, 18, is seen in a photo from the Santa Ana Police Department.
A suspect, Jose Mandujanofierros, 21, is seen in a photo from the Santa Ana Police Department.
A suspect, Andrew Gonzalez, 18, is seen in a photo from the Santa Ana Police Department.
Three suspects were seen stabbing and assaulting a man in Santa Ana on August 6, 2024. (Santa Ana Police Department)
Three suspects were seen stabbing and assaulting a man in Santa Ana on August 6, 2024. (Santa Ana Police Department)

Investigators learned a dispute occurred between the suspects and the victim at a public park.

The trio fled the scene before police could arrive. They remain at large.

All three suspects were described as Hispanic males. Gonzalez is 5 feet 8 inches tall, 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Vasquez is 5 feet 6 inches tall, 125 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Mandujanofierros is 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone who may know the suspects’ whereabouts or has information on the assault is asked to contact Detective G. Corona at 714-245-8429 or email GCorona@santa-ana.org.

Footage of the attack can be seen in the video player above.

Fiscal agility keeps Rancho Santiago Community College district budgeting on track

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 11:21:33 +0000

The Rancho Santiago Community College District is one of the fastest growing among California’s 73 community college districts; last year it served approximately 106,000 students. To meet the needs of the growing number of students, the district’s leaders manage the increases and decreases in the state budget by being fiscally conservative and agile.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed. The district recently earned high ratings and praise for its fiscal stability from two prominent bond-rating companies, according to Iris Ingram, vice chancellor of business services for RSCCD.

The fiscal year begins in July, but California’s governor releases his budget proposal in early January and then legislative committees and groups affected by the budget weigh in to advocate for adjustments.

The University of California and the Cal State University systems as well as the Community College League of California make the case for their needs. “They each lobby for what they like, what they don’t like and what they want,” Ingram said.

Negotiating goes on through May when the governor provides a “May revise,” Ingram explained. But from January to May, she and Adam O’Connor, assistant vice chancellor of business services, continually gather information about what the revised budget will probably look like.

“We build a budget based on those assumptions, and we update those assumptions monthly for our own internal district budget process,” Ingram said. Faculty, students, staff, unions and administrators from both Santiago Canyon College and Santa Anna College are involved in that district process to create their own placeholder budget.

How much money schools receive from the state depends in part upon the number of students they have enrolled. Still, each year the governor’s budget can call for decreases in some areas. Ingram and O’Connor are always prepared for this.

Iris Ingram, vice chancellor of Business Services at the RanchoSantiago Community College District (Photo courtesy of RSCCD Communications)

“Our district is conservative in its budgeting,” Ingram said. “We typically budget for a 2% deficit factor, meaning we don’t rely on 100% of our earned funding being allocated. Due to the state budget concerns, we increased this deficit to 3.55% for 2024–25.”

The district also keeps emergency funds in reserve, just as individuals or households do. “Our board of trustees recently increased the minimum board policy contingency reserve equal to two months of budgeted expenses in the combined general fund,” Ingram said. “In 2023–24, this reserve increased from $26.8 million to $54.4 million. As of the 2024–25 tentative budget, it increased again to $63.2 million.”

One decrease in this year’s budget proposed by the governor is the cost of living adjustment, or COLA. Last year’s budget allowed for an 8.22% COLA increase while this year the COLA increase is just 1.07%. But Ingram and her team anticipated this decrease and planned accordingly. “The COLA going down was not a complete surprise,” Ingram said. “We are constantly adjusting our budget assumptions.”

The district continually updates five-year projections based on several assumptions to plan for the future, according to Ingram. “We maintain healthy reserves and alternative forms of liquidity to minimize the impact of cuts or deferrals of expected revenue. And we continually monitor costs,” she said.

Liquidity means easily accessed funds such as retiree benefit funds and capital outlay funds, O’Connor said. While the district does not intend to borrow from these funds, it could for an emergency (and by law, the district would have to pay these funds back).

Scheduled maintenance of buildings, “to fix all those things when you own a building just like owning a house,” said Ingram, is also a key part of the budget. “We have to keep money on hand to try to keep up,” she said. “Sometimes the state gives us an allocation for scheduled maintenance and other times they don’t. However, you still have to maintain your buildings —they’re not necessarily always funded at the same level you count on. So what you do is, you have a plan.”

O’Connor noted, “This year we got nothing in the current state budget for capital outlay maintenance purposes. But there’ve been other years where the state has been flush with budget, and they decide they can dump more money into that category, and we might get a very large allocation.”

Adam O’Connor, assistant vice chancellor of Business Services. (Photo courtesy of RSCCD Communications)

The district is not allowed to use its operating funds for the construction of new buildings; these must be funded separately — and that means going outside of the governor’s budget to raise money. Last month the board of trustees voted to ask Orange County taxpayers to approve a bond of $720 million for new buildings and infrastructure to help meet the needs of its fast-growing student population.

“We’re projecting 10, 15 years into the future,” Ingram said, “and how we’re going to meet those needs of future students. That’s why we’re asking for approval of a bond.”

The recent high ratings from the bond-rating companies may assure voters that this bond financing will be handled with the same responsibility the district has shown with all its finances, she said.

Bravo to these student achievements and support for CHOC

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 10:38:45 +0000

Orange County junior high school wins Spring 2024 Vocabulary Bowl

Ladera Vista Junior High School claimed the top spot in its division in the Spring 2024 Vocabulary Bowl before school let out for summer. This is an impressive feat, as the competition drew more than 160,000 students from 1,800 schools.

Students at the Fullerton school mastered 31,113 words, placing them first in Division II and ninth overall in the nation.

Vocabulary Bowl is a biannual competition that brings together K-12 schools across North America to showcase their vocabulary and literacy skills.

The more than 160,000 students mastered a total of 4,400,000 words throughout the spring, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to linguistic excellence. Schools competed in three distinct categories based on enrollment size.

– Submitted by Joslyn Chesson

Students from Ladera Vista Junior High School in Fullerton claimed the top spot in their division in the Spring 2024 Vocabulary Bowl. (Courtesy of Ladera Vista Junior High School Principal William Lynch)

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CHOC receives $6 million to expand urgent care services

Orange County residents Victor and Janie Tsao are helping local children in a big way. Their recent $6 million gift to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) will establish a South Orange County pediatric-dedicated urgent care center, augmenting the health care system’s growing urgent care offerings in the community.

Thanks to the generosity of the Tsao Family Foundation, the new urgent care center will provide South Orange County families with additional access to CHOC pediatricians who can provide acute but non-emergent care to children in need when their general pediatricians’ offices are not available.

Set to open in 2025, the center will be solely dedicated to pediatric patients and care for children with lower levels of acuity, such as sore throats, simple viral infections and minor injuries that do not require emergency care.

The new center will expand CHOC’s sprawling urgent care network that includes locations throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties. Among the network are two pediatric-dedicated centers in Orange, including one recently opened on CHOC’s hospital campus.

Its largest donation to an Orange County nonprofit to date, the Tsao Family Foundation’s gift deepens a treasured relationship between the foundation and CHOC that began in 2022 with a $2 million gift to bring 17 WellSpaces to Irvine schools.

“We are honored to support CHOC in its efforts to serve the children and families of Orange County,” said Janie Tsao.

– Submitted by CHOC

Orange County students shine in world’s largest rocket contest

Two student rocketry teams from the Orange County chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) stood out in the world’s largest student rocketry competition – the American Rocketry Challenge.

The two Irvine Rocketry Club teams were among the 100 teams competing at the recent National Finals at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia. In total, more than 5,000 students from 922 teams in 45 states competed in the 2024 American Rocketry Challenge

AIAA Orange County Section Team 1 finished third at the National Finals, earning the seven young rocketeers $12,500 and the organization $1,000. AIAA Orange County Section Team 2 finished 13th.

As top-25 finishers, both teams secured invitations to participate in NASA’s Student Launch initiative. This marks the student rocketry program’s fourth trip to the National Finals, securing a fourth place finish in last year’s competition.

The teams’ accomplishments follow months of preparation designing, building and testing a rocket capable of meeting rigorous mission parameters set by the contest’s sponsors – the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), National Association of Rocketry and more than 20 industry partners.

To qualify for the National Finals, participating teams designed, built and launched model rockets that could safely carry a payload of one raw egg with a target flight duration of 43 to 46 seconds and an altitude of 820 feet. The requirements for the National Finals were modified to introduce a new challenge to the teams.

Now in its 22nd year, the American Rocketry Challenge has inspired nearly 95,000 middle and high school students to date to explore education and careers in STEM fields.

Teams at the National Finals represented 28 states from Washington to Florida and competed for a total of $100,000 in prize money and scholarships.

– Submitted by Raegan Gall

The Bravo! section highlights achievements of our residents and groups. Send news of achievements for consideration to ocrbravo@gmail.com.

Rancho Santiago Community College’s early college program makes higher education attainable

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 08:46:59 +0000

A partnership between the Rancho Santiago Community College District and the Orange Unified School District provides students, particularly students from traditionally underserved backgrounds, the opportunity to earn transferable college credits while still in high school.

The RSCCD’s Dual Enrollment program, also referred to as Early College, allows students to take community college classes taught by college instructors.

Dual Enrollment offers many benefits, said Jason Parks, vice president of Academic Affairs for Santiago Canyon College.

In a presentation to the RSCCD board of trustees recently, Parks informed the board that OUSD students in middle/high school who were enrolled in dual enrollment have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by not going directly to UCLA and millions of dollars by not going directly to USC.

Most importantly, Parks said, Dual Enrollment is about reaching those high school students who believe college is unattainable for a variety of reasons, especially their backgrounds.

“There’s a lot of kids out there that don’t know how to (get into) college, if you will,” Parks said. “It’s not something that their family talks about. Maybe their parents didn’t go to college. Oftentimes they’re immigrants. That’s where my heart is. So often I’ve heard students use the phrase, ‘college isn’t for people like me,’ and that’s just sort of crushing to somebody who works at a college to hear those words.”

In an op-ed penned by California Community College Chancellor Sonya Christian and George R. Boggs, president and CEO emeritus of the American Association of Community Colleges, the educators wrote that dual enrollment is one strategy that can be used to address the challenges of a growing skills gap and inequity in the workforce.

The op-ed was published in April in “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education,” a news site covering higher education.

Jason Parks, vice president of Academic Affairs for Santiago Canyon College (Photo courtesy of RSCCD Communications)

“Establishing and expanding dual enrollment programs is a place to begin,” Christian and Boggs wrote. “The California community colleges focus on equitable access by calling for all ninth graders to take at least a one-credit college course in which they explore potential careers and develop a preliminary college education plan that includes a minimum of 12 college credits during high school.”

Dual enrollment is also a way to introduce students to college in “kind of a low stakes environment,” Parks said.

Students who might otherwise have to work full-time right out of high school and not have the time to attend college are perfect candidates for dual enrollment.

“We’re giving them that opportunity to say, ‘Hey, college is a thing I can do,’ ” Parks said.

Dual Enrollment also gives students the chance to build skills needed in the workforce, he said.

Students in the dual enrollment program are not required to take a certain number of college classes.

Some have earned college credits by taking a single class and others have taken as many as 10 college-credit courses, Parks said.

Some students from the 2024 graduating classes from Orange Unified earned 53 units, saving $74,424, compared to the published price of those courses at UCLA, Parks said.

While SCC offers a portfolio of classes specifically for dual enrollment students, those students have access to every class.

Students enrolled in the dual enrollment program can take the classes at their respective high schools, at the Santiago Canyon College campus, or online.

SCC staff members also have office hours at each high school in the district.

Equitable dual enrollment is a key component of “Vision 2030” a matrix for providing “focus, equity, and direction to California’s 116 community colleges, which serve two million students.

“Vision 2030 focuses on the students and future learners impacted by increasing income inequality and poverty,” the Vision 2030 report states. “These include veterans, people with low incomes, K-12 dual-enrollment students, foster youth, and students who are justice-involved or justice-impacted.”

Vision 2030 envisions a system of higher education more inclusive of all Californians, ensuring access points for every learner across race, ethnicity, region, class and gender, Christian wrote.

The initiative offers a pathway, with tailored support and exit points to transfer or complete a community college baccalaureate or obtain a job with family-sustaining wages,” the chancellor said.

“I am excited that Vision 2030 reexamines what access means when we lead with equity,” the chancellor wrote. “When students cannot find their way to college, it is our responsibility to bring college to them.”

Enrollment at community college district soars thanks to innovative programming

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 08:30:40 +0000

The Rancho Santiago Community College District has seen an increase in enrollment in its two colleges – Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College – in each of the past three years, and district officials credit the increase to its strategy of targeting specific demographic segments and having initiatives in place to ensure the growth continues to trend upward.

These approaches have become necessary with the number of students graduating from high schools in Orange County slipping downward.

“So, I think for us, the fact that we pivoted quickly to assess the data and look at whom we would be serving five years out has really benefited us,” said Enrique Perez, vice chancellor of RSCCD. “You can see it just in the dramatic increases in enrollment.”

In a recent PowerPoint presentation in front of the RSCCD board of trustees, Perez showed that the number of credit and noncredit students enrolled at Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College for the 2023-24 school year was 106,059, up from 94,187 the previous year.

Enrollment was at 79,932 in 2012-22 and 74,854 in 2020-21, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Of the total number of students in the district in 2020-21, 1,330 earned an associate degree, certificate of achievement or certificate of proficiency; 854 students accomplished one of those milestones in 2021-22 and 1,319 did it in 2022-23.

Of the total number of students in the district, nearly 6,500 went on to a four-year university in 2021-22 and 2022-23 combined.

The driving forces behind the increase began with the district’s response to the pandemic, Perez said.

Santiago Canyon College students study and work together between classes. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, contributing photographer)

When schools and colleges everywhere shut down in March 2020, RSCCD was the last district to shut down classroom instruction and the first to bring students back to the classroom when the virus began easing up, the vice chancellor said.

“When you look at the 72 districts across the state as we do, it is really unprecedented,” Perez said. “And that had a lot to do with the leadership of our board to have the stomach to do that. We waited until the last minute because we know who we serve and those students who need to be on campus.”

The pandemic led to a dramatic spike in online classes, and the number of students who take online courses remains high to this day.

At about the same time the virus’ stranglehold began to ease up, the district had already decided to focus its enrollment efforts on two areas: dual enrollment and workforce training, which includes apprenticeships.

Through a dual enrollment partnership between the college district and Orange Unified School District, OUSD students can earn transferable college credits by taking college-level classes while still in high school.

While the dual enrollment program is open to all students, including those in private schools and outside the Orange Unified district, RSCCD targets economically disadvantaged students, said Jason Parks, vice president of Academic Affairs for Santiago Canyon College.

“We’re chasing students where college probably wasn’t spoken about in their homes,” Parks said. “And they may not know the opportunities. They may not have that confidence to try college. And so, I think we’re opening up that opportunity. I don’t know if there’s anyone out there that we’re not partnering with on dual enrollment.”

Another reason for the growth is the number of apprenticeships being offered by the district.

Santago Canyon College ranks No. 2 among California’s 116 community colleges in the number of apprenticeships offered.

SCC currently offers 10 apprenticeships that serve about 5,400 students in fields that include carpentry, mechanics, surveying, cosmetology and construction.

Because of the success of its apprenticeship offerings, RSCCD Chancellor Marvin Martinez was appointed by California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian to take the lead on the Apprenticeship Pathway Demonstration Project, which aims to create a roadmap for colleges to expand apprenticeships and give college credits for classroom instruction and on-the-job training in the curriculum.

“If you’re an apprentice, you get two big things,” Martinez said. “One is you get to be an apprentice and complete the hours, and so forth. But the other thing is that we can convert all of the hours that you’re generating as an apprentice into college credits.”

SCC was recently awarded a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, which will fund apprenticeships for students pursuing careers in the wastewater industry.

The college is also forging a partnership with the Orange County Conservation Corps, a nonprofit organization serving “young, at-risk adults through employment, training and educational programs that build self-sufficiency and benefit the community through conservation-driven projects.”

17 arrested in Orange County narcotics bust

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:40:07 +0000

Seventeen suspects were arrested during a major narcotics bust at a property in Costa Mesa.

Over the past several months, Costa Mesa police have received complaints from neighbors regarding potential squatters and illegal drug activity at a property with three separate units on the 100 block of Clearbrook Lane.

On Thursday, police served a search warrant and probation check at the residence where 17 people were arrested on-site.

The suspects were arrested on a variety of charges including felony and misdemeanor warrants, narcotics sales, possession of narcotics, possession of paraphernalia, parole violation, probation violation and resisting arrest.

A few hours later, two additional suspects arrived at the location and were also taken into custody.

Seventeen suspects were arrested at a property containing three units in Costa Mesa for a variety narcotics and probation violation charges on Aug. 1, 2024. (Costa Mesa Police Department)
Seventeen suspects were arrested at a property containing three units in Costa Mesa for a variety narcotics and probation violation charges on Aug. 1, 2024. (Costa Mesa Police Department)
The garages were red-tagged after 17 suspects were arrested at a property containing three units in Costa Mesa for a variety narcotics and probation violation charges on Aug. 1, 2024. (Costa Mesa Police Department)
Illegal narcotics were found at the property during the bust. (Costa Mesa Police Department)

One of the suspects was wanted for narcotics sales. Both of their vehicles were towed from the scene.

Three garages on the property were red-tagged and boarded up by authorities. Police have not released details on what was found inside the garages or the residences, although photos of the bust show illegal narcotics were found at the scene.

Animals that were found at the property were also handled by animal control crews.

“This was a complete team effort, including many team members from the police department, OC Probation, Code Enforcement, and our residents,” said Costa Mesa police.

The suspects’ names were not released as the case remains under investigation.

Kids with disabilities shine in Orange County summer camp

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 19:31:52 +0000

An Orange County summer camp is giving kids with visual disabilities the opportunity to partake in summer activities they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to experience.

Beyond Blindness’s annual summer camp hosts activities from arts to sports to nature exploration, in order to give campers the fun of summertime. All kids can participate in the activities, regardless of their ability.

The campers went out to the Newport Aquatic Center in Newport Beach for a fun day on the water on Thursday.

Boarding canoes tied together to prevent flipping, the kids were able to row out onto the waves and play in the water. They chanted “stroke!” pretending to be in an Olympic regatta and splashed each other with their paddles.

“Beyond Blindness has taught us and shown us that places like this welcome kids like Charlie and let him just be a kid,” said Kristin McKay, the mother of Charlie, who has Hunter syndrome, and a Beyond Blindness board member.

The campers take similar field trips weekly, exploring all that California has to offer. Through Beyond Blindness, their safety and abilities to participate are prioritized.

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Lucky fairgoer wins $1 million lottery prize at Orange County Fair

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 13:28:15 +0000

“I know I won something, but don’t say anything aloud, and tell me if it is true,” said a man who came up to the back window of a lottery booth at Orange County Fair.

This unknown lottery player scratched off to a $1 million prize spot, California Lottery announced on Friday.

The winning Multiplier Craze Scratchers® ticket was sold at the CA Lottery LIVE! Booth.

There was a lot of excitement when the person played his newly purchased Multiplier Craze game, the retailer Maysa Dagher said.

Dagher’s co-worker checked the ticket that confirmed the substantial win and was excited about the sale, too.

“We are loud and crazy in here,” Dagher said.

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The California Lottery won’t be able to officially declare a winner until the person who bought the winning Scratchers comes forward.

Any winning player can come forward to claim their prize at one of nine California Lottery offices or by mailing the ticket in.

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Orange County church volunteer sentenced to 120 years in prison for molesting young girls

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:51:26 +0000

An Orange County church ministry volunteer was sentenced to over 120 years in prison for molesting young girls.

Todd Christian Hartman, 41, of Newport Beach, was convicted of molesting several young minors and possessing hundreds of explicit images of children, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Hartman had repeatedly molested a girl beginning when she was 6 years old, officials said. He met the girl while volunteering at the Anaheim Vineyard Church children’s ministry.

He was also convicted of molesting the girl’s younger sister while taking sexually suggestive photographs as she was on his lap.

At the time, church leadership changed Hartman’s responsibilities after they “became concerned about him repeatedly pulling children onto his lap,” court documents said.

In 2016, Hartman contacted the father of the two sisters and admitted to the crimes.

In a separate incident, Hartman was also convicted of molesting two girls in 2009 — a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. While at a sleepover at a Fullerton home, he “groped and fondled their genitals repeatedly,” authorities said.

Investigators also discovered Hartman possessed hundreds of pornographic images of children, including children stripping, dancing in their underwear and performing oral sex.

In February 2015, a search warrant was served at the Newport Beach home Hartman shared with his mother after detectives traced an IP address that had shared several child pornography images to his residence.

“Houses of worship should be safe havens from the evils of the world, but instead child predators transform them from a place of safety into a hunting ground for unsuspecting victims for their twisted sexual gratification,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “No child should have the innocence of childhood robbed from them by anyone, much less someone they were led to believe they could trust.”

On Wednesday, Hartman was sentenced to 120 years to life plus an additional four years and four months in prison.

California’s elder parole law allows most convicted felons who are 50 years and older and who have served at least 20 years of their sentence to be eligible for parole.

Spitzer criticized the elder parole law in a Wednesday statement announcing Hartman’s sentencing.

“While these victims and their families grapple with trying to put back together their shattered innocence, they must also deal with the fact that instead of having the peace of mind that this predator who preyed on the most innocent of children will never be out of prison, they must deal with the harsh reality that he will eligible for parole in just a few years as a result of the governor and the state Legislature’s reckless and disgraceful decisions to once again put the criminals before the victimized by allowing dangerous predators to be eligible for elder parole at age 50 after serving just 20 years,” Spitzer said. “We will never leave the sides of our victims and when he does come up for parole we will do everything in our power as prosecutors to keep him behind bars where he undoubtedly belongs.”

Santiago Canyon College leads the way in statewide promotion of apprenticeship programs

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:15:37 +0000

By Larry Urish, contributing writer

The powers that be at Santiago Canyon College realize that, while the college experience furnishes a host of opportunities, the professional and financial success of their students remains paramount. As such, SCC has been leading the way in apprenticeship programs, in which students are paid while learning in-demand jobs through a blend of classroom instruction and on-the-job training.

As a testament to SCC’s leadership in this area, Elizabeth Arteaga, the college’s dean of Apprenticeship Programs, was named to lead an effort to expand apprenticeship programs throughout California. The Apprenticeship Pathways Demonstration Project is a key element of California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian’s Vision 2030 plan. Christian encouraged Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor Marvin Martinez to promote apprenticeship programs statewide; SCC’s Arteaga is directing the overall operation of the project, which aligns with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal to serve 500,000 apprentices by 2029.

“Apprenticeship students earn while they learn,” Arteaga said. “They learn occupational skills and get paid, hands-on training, and they practice all aspects of their trade. We want to make sure that every apprenticeship student can earn a living wage.”

Santiago Canyon College, currently home to about 5,400 apprenticeship students, attracts students from throughout Orange County, the Inland Empire, San Diego and as far away as Kern County. “They can attend other community colleges, but they like ours because we provide them with a lot of extra services,” Arteaga said. “For example, we hired a full-time apprenticeship counselor, to help students as they work through the program.”

This support is comprehensive. “When someone enters an apprenticeship program, they become our student,” Arteaga said, noting that they have access to counseling, health care, career planning, the computer lab and library, tutors and other benefits. “Everything is at no cost to the student. There’s no tuition because apprenticeship students are exempt from paying any dues.” Programs last between 18 months and five years, depending on the chosen profession. Upon finishing an apprenticeship, the student receives a credit certificate of completion or a college degree – and a world of practical experience.

While the emphasis has been on “traditional” apprenticeship programs — focusing on union trades for people who primarily work with their hands and requiring that students meet union eligibility — one key aspect of the Apprenticeship Pathways Demonstration Project, which involves 25 of the 116 California Community Colleges schools and is funded by the CCC State Chancellor’s Office, stresses “nontraditional” apprenticeship trades. This includes IT, health care, cybersecurity, early childhood education and financial services, among many other professions.

Arteaga’s role in spearheading the project is multifaceted. “I’ve been working with the community colleges to assist them, helping them establish apprenticeship programs in new and innovative careers,” she said. “An apprenticeship program isn’t created overnight. It involves working with the employer, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the U.S. Department of Labor.”

Arteaga brings a wealth of experience into her dual roles as SCC’s dean of Apprenticeship Programs and leader of the statewide project. Prior to her current position, she served as dean of SCC’s Business and Career Education Division, a position she held from May 2019 to January of this year. “I supervised all aspects of the planning, funding, staffing, delivery and evaluation of all instructional programs and services in the service area,” Arteaga said, “and I provided direction and support to faculty in the development, revision and evaluation of curriculum and materials.”

She previously served as associate dean of Business and Career Education; small business deputy sector navigator for the California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development Program; and associate director of the Orange County Small Business Development Center. On top of all that, she currently serves as regional vice president of the California Community College Association for Occupational Education. Given her wide-ranging background, Arteaga is well-prepared to lead the Apprenticeship Pathways Demonstration Project, working closely with RSCCD Chancellor Martinez and SCC’s president, Jeannie Kim.

Along with its emphasis on growing nontraditional apprenticeship programs, “This initiative seeks to provide community college credit for apprenticeship classroom instruction and for prior learning experiences through credit for on-the-job training,” Arteaga said. Another Project goal, she added, is to encourage apprenticeship students to stay on their educational journey in the college system, including continued technical education and associate degrees as well as California Community College baccalaureate degrees in such fields as physical therapy assistant, dental hygienist, automotive tech management and biomanufacturing.

Arteaga stressed that the statewide push to bolster apprenticeship programs can have a positive impact far beyond the individual student. “We hope this effort will help break the cycle of poverty and provide access to true economic mobility,” she said. “And we want to expand diversity, equity and inclusion, to ensure that students of any background have access to any degree pathway that aligns with their chosen field.”

Video: Firefighters free kitten trapped in spare tire in Orange County

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:14:05 +0000

Cats are known for their insatiable curiosity, something that often leads them to fall into traps from which they often cannot get out on their own.

This is what happened last Thursday, July 25, to a small cat in Garden Grove when its curiosity left him trapped in the spare tire of a car.

The cat was discovered by the resident of the house, and owner of the car, who heard the feline’s meows. The man did not hesitate to ask for help and took him to Station 86 of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA).

The firefighters tried to free him with soap and water, but it was unsuccessful, since he kept slipping and they could not get him out. That is when they called for backup from another team with specialized tools.

The team effort required a chainsaw, a large spoon to protect the kitten’s head from the blade, and water to cool the area as they worked to free it.

Ultimately, the kitten was freed and went home with the resident who discovered him. It was a very successful rescue, as one of the firefighters can be heard saying on video where the officers’ action was recorded.

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Santiago Canyon College’s new animal training program opens the door to careers

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:11:19 +0000

For those who have a passion for the furry friends in our community, Santiago Canyon College is offering a new Companion Animal Training program beginning this fall that will serve as a pathway to earning an associate’s degree in the field.

The genesis behind the idea came from SCC professor of psychology Cari Cannon. A lifelong dog lover, Cannon had a dog about a decade ago that was a challenge to train, and her background in experimental psychology and animal learning prompted her to take a deeper dive into applied animal behavior to help her pet.

Now a doctoral-level animal behaviorist who has been privately consulting pet owners for years, Cannon decided to bring her knowledge in this area to the SCC classroom and offer an affordable way for students to learn effective techniques in animal behavior and training.

“There’s just so many myths about dogs and people misunderstanding dogs and misreading them,” Cannon said. “I thought, I’m in the perfect position to create a cost-effective way for people to learn the scientifically valid and ethical approach to working with animals.”

The major coursework for SCC’s associate degree in companion animal training is based in psychology, but students can customize the degree path to suit their career goals. For those looking to pursue a veterinary medicine path, biology electives can be paired with the degree plan. Public speaking or business-focused classes can be added for those students with an interest in opening their own training facility.

“SCC’s new Companion Animal Training Program embodies our commitment to providing innovative and relevant education,” said SCC Dean, Division of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Michelle Samura. “This program is an excellent example of how we’re preparing our graduates to meet industry demands and make a tangible impact in their chosen fields.”

Cannon will be teaching the four major core classes, one per semester. As the only pathway of its kind in the state, all four classes will be offered online to make the program accessible to as many California residents as possible.

Cari Cannon’s animal behavior program can be applied to career paths or to family pets. (Photo courtesy of Cari Cannon)

Students will begin the pathway with a companion animal psychology class where they will learn about animal behavior, with an emphasis specifically on dogs. Cannon feels the class is structured for anyone interested in improving their relationship with their pet.

“Even if somebody only wanted to take that class, they would learn so much about dog behavior that it would be transformative in their relationship with their dog,” Cannon said.

The second core class focuses on animal learning, the subject of Cannon’s doctorate, where students will study how animals think and learn, along with the underlying principles behind how animal behavior can be changed by experience.

The applied version of the animal learning course is the behavior modification course, the third class in the CAT Program degree path, where students will learn the science behind positive reinforcement and discipline techniques. This class also pairs well for students who are interested in working with those with developmental disabilities or who are looking to pursue clinical psychology.

The fourth course focuses on dog training and is similar to a practicum, where students will apply actual skills training on dogs, either their own pets or dogs that belong to friends or family. The hands-on class will provide students the opportunity to teach dogs basic training skills.

When it comes to training dogs, Cannon feels that many of the more popular programs currently in use include outdated techniques that are punitive in approach. She is excited to be using her extensive background as an animal behaviorist to introduce a pure positive or force-free approach to SCC students that shows the science behind the effectiveness of these techniques.

“The single best way to get a well-behaved companion is to prevent problems, and I dream of a world where this knowledge that I have about dog behavior and the best way to interact with dogs is common knowledge for everyone,” Cannon said. “I’m looking forward to bringing something new to people who’ve never had an opportunity to learn about this topic.”

The hope is that in establishing this program, SCC will be able to provide future offerings in veterinary science, including a possible focus on equine studies.

“The CAT Program addresses a critical gap in California’s community college offerings and in our local communities,” Samura said. “By launching this unique program, we are opening doors to exciting career opportunities for our students while addressing a growing demand in our region for skilled professionals in animal behavior. We are making vital education in companion animal training more accessible and affordable, and we are proud to be at the forefront of offering this specialized training.”

Santiago Canyon College’s international program supports students from 26 countries

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:07:05 +0000

Students in SCC’s International Students Program come from 26 countries from around the world, including China, Brazil, India, Vietnam, Ski Lanka, France, Mexico and Colombia. As the 2024 fall semester nears, enrollment is inching toward last fall’s high of 101 students.

The number of international students has been growing steadily each year since the COVID-19 pandemic, the program’s director, Jetza Torres, said. “We’re doing very, very well in our program.”

Santiago Canyon College has a reputation in the U.S. and abroad for its high-quality academic programs and student support services, Torres explained. In May, she accepted an Export Achievement Certificate from the Deputy Undersecretary for International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. The certificate recognizes businesses and educational institutions for their work with overseas markets.

The program recently was presented with a commendation from Rep. Young Kim, who represents California’s 40th congressional district.

Students in foreign countries learn about SCC from their high school counselors, recruiters, educational agencies or friends and family.

They’re attracted to SCC by the student-centered approach, personalized attention and its safe and welcoming environment, Torres said. They also appreciate the small class sizes where they won’t get lost. “Most of our international students come from private high schools where they are accustomed to classrooms with fewer students,” she said.

Business administration is a popular program among international students as are the many STEM programs, she points out.

The college accepts international students three times a year. “We have three intakes—we accept students in fall, spring and summer,” she said, explaining that this is to accommodate the high school calendars in foreign countries. “Our work at the international office never stops because we are recruiting, we are accepting applications, reviewing applications and issuing those admissions letters all year round.”

Jetza Torres received an Export Achievement Certificate from the Deputy Undersecretary for International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce in recognition of SCC’s International Students Program. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, contributing photographer)

One recent SCC graduate, Muhammad Shahmir Shamim, 21, who was born in Pakistan and grew up in Saudi Arabia, had already enrolled in another U.S. college when he visited SCC at the invitation of a friend. He was immediately impressed with the friendliness of everyone he met on campus. He was even invited to sit in on a class he was interested in.

“Although they were full, they included me in the class,” he said. “And it was really, really welcoming.” He filled out all the paperwork as soon as he could and began attending SCC.

He encouraged his younger brother, Muhammad Shahwar Shamim, to also come to SCC. It wasn’t hard to convince him.

“First, I’m already there, so I knew the atmosphere,” said Shamim of his brother’s decision to join him. “Second, because of how helpful everyone is at Santiago Canyon College — not just international students, but everyone.”

Muhammad Shahmir studied computer science and will be transferring to UC Irvine. His younger brother worked hard so that he could graduate at the same time. He, too, studied computer science and is transferring to Cal State Fullerton.

The brothers credit their parents, both engineers and college professors in Saudi Arabia, for instilling in them the drive to get an education. Studying so far from home, they appreciate the support SCC provides.

The International Students program hosted students from 26 countries all over the world, and the number continues to grow. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, contributing photographer)

“The international student program office takes pride in offering exceptional customer service in college experience to ensure a student’s success,” said Torres, admitting that her business background causes her to express the success in business terms. She has worked in international business and education for more than 20 years. “The program helps them integrate into the campus socially and academically so they can transfer to a four-year college. Our students are our priority,” she said.

Looking back on their years at SCC, the Shamim brothers happily recalled the many social activities organized by SCC’s International Student Program, such as outings to baseball games and Universal Studios. During exams, students were taken to the beach to enjoy pizza and a bonfire to give them a break from the stress of studying.

International students bring a meaningful dimension to campus life, Torres said. “There is no doubt that hosting international students has many advantages for any U.S. education institution,” she said. “It promotes global citizens, promotes intercultural understanding and enhances that diversity of perspective in class discussions. We can all benefit from that.”

Whether in the classroom or outside, meeting students from other countries broadens the view of American students. “Just interacting with international students from different backgrounds enables all students to form new perspectives and perhaps see the world in a different way,” Torres said. “Bringing people from around the world into campus is a great way to learn about the experiences of others and allow us to be more understanding and respectful of those differences. So, international students promote cultural awareness and enhance that diversity of perspective in class discussions.”

Not a backyard sport: Southern California teens training to become next badminton star

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 17:38:03 +0000

When you think of Olympic sports, badminton may not be the first to come to mind, and it certainly isn’t the one that takes center stage.

But those who play it are looking to change that.

They say badminton is fiercely competitive and far from a backyard sport.

NBC4 spoke with young badminton players and one of the coaches at the Global Badminton Academy in Pomona where some members of Team USA, including Vinson Chiu, 25, of Newport Beach, trained.

“I’m as a coach very proud of him,” said Tony Gunawan, who trained Chiu and several other Olympic athletes who are making their debut in Paris.

“He showed his level can be competing with the top of the world.”

Young athletes said they had been watching the badminton competition and hope they, too, can one day become Olympians.

“I love how exciting it can be sometimes,” said Tiger Chen, 16, who started playing badminton when he was 5 years old.

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The sport is also quick, competitive and gaining steam in the U.S.

“People know badminton as a backyard sport, but it’s very intense. It requires everything” said Gunawan, who played for Team USA at the 2012 London Games. He also won a gold medal when he competed for his home country, Indonesia, where he said badminton is as popular as basketball is here in the U.S.

“It’s been a long time,” he said. “We all try. It’s always chicken and egg. We need investment to get top players, but also sponsors need results to give sponsorships,” he said.

Badminton players have high hopes that their sport will propel in popularity just in time for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, where they hope they can have a chance to compete.

“Right now, it’s daily training. Once school starts, maybe a little less training. But still keeping it up. Consistence,” said Chen. “Hopefully I can compete with them in four years.”

Meet the dad who is riding his bicycle across the country to support Ronald McDonald House

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 15:33:48 +0000

“I’m so proud of you,” whispered Hailey Bekos as she hugged her father before he left on a 4,600-mile, cross-country bike ride to honor her and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Jeff Bekos hopped on his endurance bike Monday morning, July 29, and left the parking lot of the Ronald McDonald House in Orange. Amid cheers from supporters, he turned north on Batavia Street and headed for Philadelphia.

Jeff Bekos hugs his daughter, Hailey Bekos, before he leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jeff Bekos and his daughter, Hailey Bekos, before he leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jeff Bekos leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jeff Bekos jokes around with his daughter, Hailey Bekos, before he leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jeff Bekos kisses his daughter, Hailey Bekos, before he leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Liz Bekos, left, and Hailey Bekos, watch as Jeff Bekos speaks to supporters before he leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jeff Bekos with his wife, Liz Bekos, and his kids, Brenden and Hailey Bekos, before he leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Charles Antis, Co-Chair of RMHOC Capital Campaign, cheers on Jeff Bekos as he ceremonially leaves on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jeff Bekos prepares to leave on a cross-country bike trip in Orange, CA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. Bekos is riding from California to Pennsylvania, 4,600 miles, over the next 77 days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bekos’ trip, “One Dad’s Mission” is his way of giving back to RMHC for their help when his daughter, Hailey Bekos, was sick. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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He hopes to raise $5 million for the charity, which supports families with sick children, as he bikes from California to Pennsylvania.

“This will help approximately 254,000 families,” said Jeff Bekos.

Over the next 77 days, Bekos will stop at 26 Ronald McDonald houses spread among 15 states sharing his family’s story.

In July 2013, at the age of 13, Hailey Bekos woke up and, “within about 15 seconds stopped talking,” said Jeff Bekos. She had multiple seizures and fell into a four-month coma.

Hailey Bekos, now 24, was diagnosed with Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, an autoimmune disease where the body creates antibodies against the NMDA receptors in the brain. She said she needed to relearn to walk and talk.

“Basically, my brain shut down entirely,” said Hailey Bekos.

Jeff Bekos said he has a mission of giving back.

“We lived at the Ronald McDonald house for 254 nights when Hailey was fighting for her life, and what a better way to give back,” he said.

He plans to arrive in Philadelphia, the birthplace of Ronald McDonald House, on Oct. 14, a few days shy of the nonprofit’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Follow his progress or donate at onedadsmission.org

Lottery ticket worth $415,000 sold in La Palma

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 10:21:55 +0000

A ticket with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, in Friday night’s drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery was sold at a liquor store in La Palma and is worth $415,055, the California Lottery announced.

The tickets with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in Illinois and New Jersey are both worth $1 million. While tickets with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in other states are worth $1 million or a multiple of $1 million, California law requires major payoffs of lottery games to be paid on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning they are determined by sales and the number of winners.

There were no tickets sold with all six numbers, pushing the estimated jackpot for Tuesday’s drawing to $331 million.

The numbers drawn Friday were 2, 14, 33, 58, 65 and the Mega number was 3. The estimated jackpot was $306 million.

The drawing was the 14th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the California Lottery. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.

The Mega Millions game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Young girl found murdered, set on fire in Southern California identified

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 03:47:59 +0000

A girl who was found murdered with her body set on fire in Southern California has been identified.

The victim, Marcia Shirree Thomas, 14, was a missing child from Reno, Nevada, according to the Irvine Police Department.

Through DNA testing and years-long investigations, authorities were able to identify the victim 15 years after her murder.

On Sept. 4, 2009, the young girl was lured into a van by two brothers in Santa Ana — Zenaido Valdivia-Guzman and Gabino Valdivia-Guzman.

Zenaido was 23 at the time and his older brother, Gabino, was 30. Gabino was driving the van and Zenaido was hiding in the backseat.

When Thomas entered the van, she began to panic after discovering Zenaido was sitting in the back, police said. The girl began screaming and trying to escape but Zenaido pulled her into the back area and began beating her in the face and neck, authorities said. The older brother continued driving as Zenaido assaulted the girl.

An artist's rendering of Marcia Shirree Thomas, 14, after she was found murdered on Sept. 4, 2009. (Irvine Police Department)

As she tried to escape, Zenaido eventually strangled her to death, police said. Gabino drove the van to a business complex on the 1800 block of Kettering Street in Irvine. That’s where the brothers dumped the girl’s body in the parking lot, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, detectives said.

The brothers then took the girl’s cell phone and fled the scene.

The next morning, the girl’s body was discovered by employees who had arrived at the complex for work. Police and homicide detectives arrived and began searching for leads on the suspects.

On Nov. 5, 2010, over a year after the murder, Zenaido’s DNA was linked to the girl’s murder stemming from a 2009 misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence.

He was located the next day at a shopping center in Santa Ana where he was taken into custody. His older brother, Gabino, was with him at the time and was also arrested.

On Nov. 15, 2022, Zenaido was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and the special circumstance of murder in the commission of a kidnapping.

His brother, Gabino, will be tried at a future date.

"The Irvine Police Department has been committed to this case since 2009,” said Police Chief Michael Kent. “Marcia's family remains in our thoughts during this difficult time. We appreciate the agencies that have assisted in providing crucial information to support the case and the family.”

Anyone with additional information on the case can call Detective John Sanders at 949-724- 7233.

Orange County felon faces up to life in prison for stabbing man to death

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 01:20:57 +0000

An Orange County felon who prosecutors called a risk to public safety faces up to life in prison for stabbing a man to death.

Effrum Maland Burnett, 53, of Yorba Linda was sentenced to 46 years to life in prison for murdering Toye Mim Jones, 50, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

On July 18, 2023, Burnett and an unidentified man drove with Christina Roberts, who is an acquaintance of both men, to a sober living home in Anaheim where Jones lived.

They tried to retrieve a 2009 Dodge Ram pickup truck that Roberts claimed was hers.

According to testimony, the woman falsely told Burnett that Jones had raped her and stole her pickup truck, the Orange County Register reports.

In actuality, the truck belonged to someone else and the woman had planned to take it. She reportedly told the false story to Burnett so he would help her retrieve it.

As the group arrived and tried to start the pickup truck, Jones confronted the woman and the situation escalated into a physical confrontation, court documents said. Jones was also upset about the false rape accusations.

Burnett intervened and struck Jones, which prompted him to retreat into the sober living home. However, minutes later, Jones came back outside, walked up to Burnett and hit him in the eye.

The violent confrontation escalated and Burnett stabbed Jones five times — in the face, armpit, groin, abdomen, and chest which punctured his heart, officials said.

Jones was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, the judge acknowledged that Burnett had been lied to by the woman involved but also noted Burnett made the choice to use a knife in the deadly altercation.

Jurors had also rejected the argument by Burnett’s attorney that he was acting in self-defense, the O.C. Register reports.

In April 2018, Burnett was facing felony charges for robbery and burglary. He asked an Orange County judge to dismiss his two prior strikes for kidnapping and robbery so he could participate in the “Whatever It Takes” court program. The program aims to help “offenders who have been diagnosed as chronically, persistently mentally ill and are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”

Participation in the program was only possible if the court dismissed his prior strikes. Prosecutors at the time objected to the idea, citing his violent criminal history, but the court eventually granted Burnett’s request by dismissing the strikes and admitting him into the program in December 2020.

“We warned the Court that this individual’s serious and violent criminal history posed too great of a risk to public safety, and he should not have been allowed to participate in a program in which his past criminal behavior excluded him from eligibility,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “In some cases, the potential risk to public safety is just too great to take a chance on. This is one of those cases and a man paid the price for it with his life.”

Following Jones’ death, Burnett was convicted and faces anywhere from 46 years to life in prison.

Los Alamitos soccer institute trains future Olympians

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:47:02 +0000

The United States Women’s National Soccer team kicked off the Summer Olympics Thursday with a victory against Zambia in a 3-0 win.

One of the players, Jenna Nighswonger, grew up in Huntington Beach and trained with her coach, who has opened his own soccer academy in hopes of inspiring other young athletes.

The Soccer iQ Institute in Los Alamitos is part athletics and part academics, replicating a very popular model in Europe, according to co-founder Trey Scharlin.

“To go from the 7-year-old blonde-haired girl who walked into the facility, scared and everything to playing on the biggest stage there is – It’s unbelievable to watch and see and to be a part of that journey for her,” said Scharlin, who coached Nighswonger since her childhood. His training center, Deft Touch, is now part of the institute.

While, on the field, the coaches help student athletes excel, off the field, they’re focused on academics.

“My son really struggled in school, but he is a fabulous athlete, and there are a lot of other kids like him,” said Bridgette Robinson, who co-founded the school with Scharlin. “I was trying to think of a school that would be good for those types of students.”

Last year was the first year of instruction with one student, Robinson’s son, Joaquin.

“I want to be a professional soccer player,” said the-12-year-old.

Students spend the morning in a classroom with one-on-one virtual instruction, said Robinson.

They break for lunch and then head to the soccer turf where they train in soccer in the afternoon.

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The school is gearing up for its second year starting in August with seven students so far.

The founders hope they can show students and parents that this hybrid model works. They hope to inspire future student athletes.

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UC Irvine's summer program preps girls for medical careers

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 20:48:23 +0000

Dozens of high school girls are getting a jump start in their medical careers by shadowing doctors and simulating surgeries thanks to a summer program hosted by the University of California Irvine.

The Summer Health Experience (SHE) program welcomed 35 girls between the ages of 15 to 18 to learn more about working in medical facilities at the UCI Medical Center. Participants were selected out of more than 300 applicants for the week-long training.

“I think the idea of saving others, whether it’s life or lifestyle, is just so valuable to me,” said Elyse Mills, who’s in the program.

The program is in its 10^th year and was founded by Dr. Nimisha Parekh, a gastroenterologist whose inspiration to make a change in the medical field is what pushed her to create SHE.

“For myself, I think it’s really exciting,” Dr. Parekh said of her program. “When I started here, I was the only female provider, so it was really challenging. I think as the years go by, I see our group is growing, more women; it’s really exciting.”

The doctor said she’s been happy to see the program inspire aspiring, female medical workers.

“It’s exciting to see that more women are interested and I can be a role model for them and mentor,” she said.

The program allows participants to shadow a wide range of professionals from pharmacists, researchers, social workers and more. It aims to show them professional opportunities that go beyond doctor’s offices by provided a career panel from several related professions.

Things to do this weekend: OC Fair opens in Costa Mesa

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 17:11:17 +0000

What to Know

OC Fair at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa
July 19 through Aug. 18; Wednesday through Sunday
$13 general daily entry Wednesday-Thursday; $15 Friday-Sunday; advance ticket purchase is required

OC Fair 2024 opens: It’s “Always a Good Time” at this colossal county fair, an event that covers the good-time-having gamut and then some. The Costa Mesa merriment runs Wednesday through Sunday — Mondays and Tuesdays are closed days, keep in mind — and you must buy your ticket ahead of time. Pig racing, mega concerts, quirky contests, and fried goodies, often on sticks, await.

Ice Cream Alley opens: There are a plethora of frosty ways to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, which gets scooping July 21. If you swing by Smorgasburg LA at ROW DTLA that day, you’ll be there for the debut of this seasonal favorite, an “alley” of artisanal ice cream purveyors. Entry is free, pups should stay home, and food purchases are additional.

Plumeria Festival: This tropical titan, a fragrant superstar that brings its ombre elegance to gardens across Southern California, is highly cherished. How highly? The flower enjoys its own Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden party each year. Be in Arcadia on the afternoon/evening of July 19 or morning/midday of July 20 for talks, tunes, and oodles of plumeria prettiness.

Swim with Aqualillies: The celebrated synchronized swimming troupe — you’ve seen them on the silver screen — is known for its fabulous performances, but here’s your chance to take an actual class. It’s splish-splashing in West Hollywood and the price, at least for the first session, is free. You’ll need to register in advance, but if you can’t make it July 20? Three more $20 classes are to come later this summer.

Long Beach Burger Week opens: Dine LA Restaurant Week, the SoCal-big foodie spectacular, is only hitting its halfway point, but burgerists may make some extra time to call upon LBC for this quirky Restaurant Week, which is known for filling foodie deals. Some of the participating restaurants will price burgers at $5 and up (check before you go, of course) while a few patio restaurants will have yummy burger menus created just for our pooch pals.

5-year-old boy struck by DUI driver in Garden Grove is declared brain dead

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 19:40:14 +0000

It’s now two weeks after the fourth of July and we continue to hear about severe firework injuries. Now, one Fullerton teen is trying her best to stay positive despite an injury that may cost her her eyesight.

Taylor Kim’s family said they started the summer with a lot to look forward to.

“She was so excited we were all so excited this fall,” her father, Robert Kim, said. The recent high school graduate was looking forward to starting a new internship

“My dream is to be a nurse. I just want to help people,” the teen said.

Now wearing protective glasses at one of her many eye doctor appointments, she said she’s afraid her bright future is anything but, after a firework at a July 4th gathering shot straight into her left eye

“We were all just playing outside. I just turned around and the firework was already lit and it just – exploded like a grenade,” Taylor said.

Ambulances rushed her to Pomona Valley Hospital.

“This firework came at her eye with tremendous force,” said Dr. Mark Barak, medical director of Empire Laser Eye Center. “There’s a lot of damage to the left eye and her vision is very poor at this point, it’s hard to predict what the end result will be.”

Taylor’s family started a Gofundme account to help with mounting medical bills. They say hope people see that fireworks – of all kinds can be dangerous.

“Unfortunately this one incident of someone’s careless act being negligent, disregard for people – the severity of possessing such a magnitude object. Just like a firearm you don’t play with firearms, why would you play with something like this?” Robert said.

Taylor, holds back her pain as she sends a message to others.

“Don’t think of it as a toy and launch everywhere wherever you feel like it,” Taylor said. “I just want to fight and still become a nurse because I can still see with my right eye, but because of this eye it won’t stop me.”

Laguna Hills mom warns of illegal fireworks danger after son was critically injured

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 17:18:59 +0000

Taylor Kim’s family said they started the summer with a lot to look forward to.

“She was so excited we were all so excited this fall,” her father, Robert Kim, said. The recent high school graduate was looking forward to starting a new internship

“My dream is to be a nurse. I just want to help people,” the teen said.

“We were all just playing outside. I just turned around and the firework was already lit and it just – exploded like a grenade,” Taylor said.

Ambulances rushed her to Pomona Valley Hospital.

Taylor’s family started a Gofundme account to help with mounting medical bills. They say hope people see that fireworks – of all kinds can be dangerous.

Taylor, holds back her pain as she sends a message to others.