Traffic collision kills 2 people, injures another in Cypress

• February 26, 2023

Two people in a Tesla SUV were killed and a Ford Flex driver suffered severe injuries in a collision on Saturday, Feb. 25 in Cypress, police said.

At approximately 4:26 pm, the Cypress Police Department responded to the crash at the intersection of Walker Street and Orange Avenue.

Officers located a driver and passenger in the Tesla, who were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Flex was transported to UCI Medical Center with severe injuries, per a Cypress PD news release.

Further information on the crash wasn’t immediately available.

Any witnesses with information about the collision were encouraged to contact Traffic Investigator Officer B. Lemmon at (714)-229-6603 or blemmon@cypressca.org

​ Orange County Register 

UC Irvine’s loss at Hawaii creates 3-way tie atop Big West

• February 26, 2023

HONOLULU — UC Irvine dropped its second consecutive game on Saturday night, setting up a dramatic final week in the race for the Big West Conference regular-season title.

DJ Davis had 27 points and made six 3-pointers for UCI, but Hawaii outscored the Anteaters 10-5 over the final four minutes to hand them a 72-67 defeat in a nationally televised game played in front of a lively sellout crowd of 10,300 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

With one week left in the regular season, UCI (20-10 overall, 13-5 Big West), UC Santa Barbara (22-7, 13-5) and UC Riverside (20-10, 13-5) are now tied atop the standings, with Hawaii (21-9, 12-6) and Cal State Fullerton (18-12, 12-6) both one game behind. The conference champion earns the top seed for next month’s 10-team Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada.

The Anteaters play at UCR on Thursday night before hosting Cal State Bakersfield (10-19, 6-12) in their season finale next Saturday night (March 4). After its game with UCI, UCR closes its season at last-place Cal Poly (7-23, 1-17), while UCSB finishes with games at UC Davis (17-12, 10-7) on Thursday and then at home against Hawaii on Saturday.

Davis was 9 for 20 from the field (6 for 11 from 3-point range) to go with three steals for UCI, while Dawson Baker had 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Bent Leuchten had eight points and six rebounds.

Jovon McClanahan had 27 points and seven assists and went 10 for 11 from the free-throw line to lead the Warriors, while 7-foot-1 freshman Mor Seck had 14 points (7-for-11 shooting), 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in his first career start. Samuta Avea had 10 points, and Harry Rouhliadeff added 10 off the bench.

UCI led for much of the second half, opened a 49-40 lead on a Baker 3-pointer with 14:27 left and still held a six-point lead (59-53) with less than eight minutes remaining, but the Warriors started to take control from there.

Hawaii grabbed the lead on the strength of a 9-0 run, moving ahead 62-59 after a 3-pointer by Avea and a short jumper from Noel Coleman with 5:01 left. A long Davis 3-pointer tied the score with 4:15 left, but two free throws and a layup put Hawaii back in front 66-62 with 2:10 left.

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A floater from UCI’s Dean Keeler cut the margin to two points with 1:20 left, but the Warriors responded with four consecutive free throws for a 70-64 lead with 39 seconds left. Davis hit his sixth 3-pointer with a hand in his face to cut the margin in half with 34 seconds left, but McClanahan made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left to ice the win for Hawaii. Davis missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final seconds.

UCI finished with a narrow edge in points in the paint (28-26), but Hawaii enjoyed a significant advantage in free-throw attempts, especially in the second half. The Anteaters went 7 for 10 from the foul line for the night, while the Warriors were 19 for 24 (15 for 18 after halftime).

UP NEXT

UCI plays at UC Riverside on Thursday at 7 p.m.

​ Orange County Register 

Boys and girls basketball: Scores from Saturday’s CIF-SS championship games

• February 26, 2023

The scores from the CIF Southern Section boys and girls basketball championship games Saturday.

CIF-SS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday

BOYS BASKETBALL

Open Division

Corona Centennial 58, St. John Bosco 56

Division 1

Mater Dei 66, Etiwanda 53

Division 2AA

Tesoro 54, Orange Lutheran 35

Division 2A

Rancho Christian 63, La Mirada 55

Division 3AA

St. Pius X-St. Matthias 79, La Serna 48

Division 3A

San Gabriel Academy 66, Oakwood 64

Division 4AA

Valencia 65, St. Bonaventure 62

Division 4A

Long Beach Jordan 68, Sage Hill 57

Division 5AA

Bosco Tech 88, Lynwood 81

Division 5A

Blair 84, Santa Paula 59

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Open Division

Sierra Canyon 70, Etiwanda 57

Division 1

Orange Lutheran 63, Marlborough 45

Division 2AA

La Salle 63, Hart 54

Division 2A

Brentwood 79, Leuzinger 66

Division 3AA

Flintridge Prep 68, Los Osos 52

Division 3A

Rancho Christian 91, Chino 29

Division 4AA

Rialto 46, Buena Park 44

Division 4A

Notre Dame Academy 47, Oakwood 46

Division 5AA

St. Margaret’s 44, Gahr 33

Division 5A

Oak Park 76, St. Monica 41

​ Orange County Register 

Snowed in during the SoCal storm, this Lake Arrowhead resident traded in a car for cross-country skis

• February 26, 2023

Normally, it wouldn’t be safe to stand in the middle of North Bay Road in Lake Arrowhead, but things are different when you’re snowed in.

A sea of white surrounded Brian Cavazos as he stood plum in the center of the snow-filled road Saturday, flakes still falling.

“Today, with about 8 inches of snow unplowed, it is a safe place to walk,” Cavazos said.

The snow came as an unprecedented storm pummeled Southern California with rain, hail, and dustings to elevations just above 1,000 feet.

While the storm was on its way out Saturday night, up in Lake Arrowhead, a National Weather Service winter storm warning was still in effect until early Sunday morning, according to NWS meteorologist Adam Roser. And more snow — up to a 4-inch dusting — was in the forecast.

“We’ve been having a blast minus the shoveling. It’s a different environment when you can walk to a friend’s house, you can walk down the middle of main roads,” Cavazos said. “It’s a pain at times, but it’s also epic.”

With an abundance of snow, Cavazos said there were also ample supplies for gigantic snowmen, adding that his daughter and a friend built a snowman more than 4 feet tall.

After forty years of living in Lake Arrowhead, Cavazos explained that this week’s storm was one of the biggest he’d seen in the area and “one of the ages.”

With so much powder on the road, it seemed only appropriate to consider bringing out snowboards, he added.

“Not many people can say they’ve snowboarded down North Bay (Road)”, Cavazos said. “In fact, I may go to the house and grab (my snowboard) to accomplish that task.”

Nearby, Ginny Dunn had a similar idea — the 31-year resident of Lake Arrowhead busted out her cross-country skis to trek around the snow-covered streets.

In prior storms, Dunn said she’d tried to get around via her skis but the timing hadn’t worked out by the time roads were clear.

“Today is optimal, although I’m having to blaze my own trail,” Dunn said.

Dunn echoed Cavazos: the storm was unlike any they’d seen after multiple decades in Lake Arrowhead. And she intended to take “full advantage” of the weather, possibly with snow shoes later on as well.

“This is the most magnificent storm in the 31 years I’ve been here,” she said, skis in hand. “I’ve never seen this much snow come down, this long, this hard.”

Over the past four days, Lake Arrowhead got 36 inches of snow, Roser said— a generous dusting that still paled in comparison to some other places like the Mountain High resort in Wrightwood, which clocked in 81 inches over the same period. Big Bear’s Mountain Summit saw 57 inches; Mount Baldy, 37.

The winter wonderland in the mountains wasn’t set to last for much longer, though, according to Roser.

By Saturday evening, the snow was on its way out for San Bernardino and other Inland Empire mountain communities, he said. By then, some of the totals for the Southern California snowfall had even surpassed places on the East Coast.

“Areas in the Inland Empire near Fontana, Rialto, and Devore have now picked up more snow this winter than New York City and Philadelphia,” the NWS San Diego said in a tweet.

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​ Orange County Register 

How a commercial broker connects all the dots and gets paid

• February 25, 2023

I delivered a presentation to a sales team of material-handling specialists last week. Why you may wonder?

Two reasons. First, I’ve transacted 19 deals all over the Western United States with the president of this organization since 2009, so we’ve grown together. This was one way of giving back to a group that’s been very kind to me.

Secondly, we work closely with their sales team in assisting them to execute deals. The better they understand our world, the better we both benefit.

Some of you reading this column are commercial real estate practitioners. Others of you own or lease commercial real estate and pick up tidbits along the way. Still, others may be considering the field as a career or a way to supplement their income. Regardless, of your vantage point, I believe you’ll find value in today’s topic.

Let’s center the column on three of the four topics discussed: CRE brokers and how we’re defined, paid and why you should care.

What are CRE brokers? Simply, commercial real estate brokers assist owners and occupants of commercial real estate in finding buyers or tenants for vacant buildings.

Commercial real estate companies are generally local, regional, national or global, determined by the reach of their brokerage. These firms service a certain geography through their network of agents.

Additionally, most firms find their agents on either or both sides of the transaction – representing the owner and/or the occupant. “Dual representation” describes an agent on both sides of the deal and is a much larger subject I’ll reserve for another day. However, there are companies that specialize in tenant or buyer reps. As a service provider seeking relationships with us, all of these elements are important to understand.

So, how are we paid? Full commission, no salaries or bonuses and only when we transact.

Yes, we can spend days, weeks, months or years on initiatives that never pay us. Unlike those with salaries or hourly service providers such as CPAs or attorneys, our profession “eats what it grows,” or so they say.

And what about the deal, you may be wondering.

We enter through the C suite, in many cases, dealing with the president, CEO, CFO or the COO. This gives commercial real estate practitioners a view from the top, as opposed to some service providers who must begin with a warehouse manager or a purchasing agent.

Because we start in the C-Suite, our engagement is recommended by the boss, and in most instances, we don’t have to compete.

We are the arbiters of change. Generally, the involvement of a commercial real estate broker is preceded by some sort of transition. Whether it’s a death, a divorce, a massive debt that must be repaid, some distress, a dissolution of a partnership or a disposition of the company, our job is to assist a company in navigating these transitions.

We are upstream from most relocation decisions.

By this I mean, we must network with trusted advisers, so that we are in the best position once a transition occurs.

Business attorneys, CPAs, commercial, insurance, brokers, investment, bankers, business, bankers and wealth advisors are all included. They often will see a transaction before we do. But, we are in front of all those that must rely on a transaction to occur such as contractors, escrow, agents, architects and the like.

Allen Buchanan is a principal and commercial real estate broker at Lee & Associates, Orange. He can be reached at 714.564.7104 or abuchanan@lee-associates.com.

​ Orange County Register 

San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen is right. California should debate legalization of sex work.

• February 25, 2023

San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen has generated some headlines in recent weeks for calling on state lawmakers to consider the legalization and regulation of prostitution in California.

Prompting Ronen was an increase in prostitution activity on Capp Street in the city, where Ronen notes prostitution has gone on “for decades, if not a century.” Despite increases in police activity in the area, prostitution and related activity — including violent attacks on sex workers by pimps, and noise issues — have become pronounced.

“None of these strategies deal with the underlying issues and reality that sex work happens in San Francisco and everywhere in the world,” she said in a Feb. 15 statement. “It is time to recognize this and move towards decriminalization and ultimately legalization and regulation of sex work.” 

Ronen notes this approach has been used in the United States (in parts of Nevada, for example) and in countries around the world. 

“In most instances, legalization helps combat trafficking, improves working conditions for sex workers, reduces violence against sex workers, and makes it easier to stop underage and unhealthy practices in this line of work,” she argues.

To her point, Human Rights Watch notes that, around the world, criminalization of sex work makes sex workers more vulnerable to crimes by pushing them underground, deterring their willingness to report crimes against them out of fear of repercussions from the police. Decriminalizing prostitution, Human Rights Watch argues, “maximizes sex workers’ legal protection and their ability to exercise other key rights, including to justice and health care.” 

However, Ronen’s statements also drew some notable rebuttals, including from multiple-time gubernatorial candidate Michael Shellenberger. 

Among other arguments, Shellenberger argued on Twitter and in his Substack, that “sex trafficking increased in Germany upon legalization, according to one quantitative study of 150 countries, a correlation that holds for countries across the globe that legalize prostitution.” This would suggest that talk of legalizing prostitution is a terrible idea because it might lead to sex trafficking, which is definitionally coercive and horrific. 

But there’s a problem with Shellenberger’s line of argument. 

First, the underlying 2012 study he’s referencing warned their key finding about trafficking “needs to be subjected to future scrutiny” and “will require the collection of more reliable data to establish firmer conclusions.” They also go on to acknowledge in the study that even if their findings are true, “such a line of argumentation overlooks potential benefits that the legalization of prostitution might have on those employed in the industry. Working conditions could be substantially improved for prostitutes — at least those legally employed — if prostitution is legalized.”

Ronald Weitzer, a professor emeritus of sociology at George Washington University in Washington who has extensively studied prostitution, has further noted that the authors of the study used flawed data to draw their conclusions on trafficking. Indeed, their analysis on trafficking was based on a 2006 United Nations report that warned “the data collected and presented in this report should be interpreted with the utmost caution and not be viewed as a simple unbiased measure of the extent of the problem of human trafficking. … Caution is also advised at negatively interpreting the human trafficking situation in those countries for which more information is currently available.” 

In other words, Shellenberger’s  argument that legalization of prostitution is responsible for higher levels of trafficking is a poorly supported claim at best. 

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Weitzer, who has long written about prostitution, has pointed to government reports from countries like the Netherlands and Australia suggesting that legalization in their countries makes sex trafficking easier to detect and therefore less likely. Weitzer has also been keen to point out, for the anti-sex work hysterics out there, that since 1971 there have been legal brothels in parts of Nevada. The sky has not fallen there.  

While a coalition of puritanical right-wingers, some feminists who deny voluntary sex work is even possible and people who simply find the idea of prostitution objectionable is sure to push back on Ronen’s call, in the end, she’s right. Let adults make choices for themselves. Prohibition of consensual, victimless activity is a fool’s errand that does more harm than good.

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

Former Trabuco Hills football coach Jim Barnett, a three-time CIF champion, dies at age 76

• February 25, 2023

Former Trabuco Hills football coach Jim Barnett, who started the program in the mid-1980s and guided the Mustangs to three CIF-SS championships in 10 years, died Thursday in Montana, his son, Rory, said.

Barnett, 76, died of complications from an ulcer, Rory said of his father, a native of Hamilton, Montana.

Barnett coached Trabuco Hills starting in 1985, and by the end of his fourth season, the Mustangs were CIF champions. They won Division VIII in 1988, 1989 and 1993 and were the runner-up to Laguna Hills in 1991.

Trabuco Hills claimed four Pacific Coast League titles under Barnett.

He also tutored well-known Orange County quarterbacks such as John Barnes (UCLA), Pat Barnes (Cal), David Lowery (San Diego State) and Tim Manning.

The Mustangs’ offenses were known for playing at an up-tempo pace under Barnett.

Rory said his father had a passion for coaching.

“He loved football. He loved it more than anything,” Rory said. “He was player’s coach. He loved just talking to them whether it was football or life. … He touched a lot of people.”

In Barnett’s final season in 1994, the Mustangs finished second to Mater Dei in the South Coast League and reached the Division 1 semifinals, where they fell at top-seeded Bishop Amat.

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Barnett finished with a record of 82-38-3 at Trabuco Hills.

He later coached lower-level football at Santa Margarita. His resume also included serving as the coach of Long Beach Poly. He led the Jackrabbits to the CIF Coast title in 1980.

Barnett’s legacy in South Orange County includes starting Daily’s Sports Grill in Rancho Santa Margarita in 1993.

Rory said a celebration of life is being planned for his father for later this year.

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Russell Westbrook makes an (almost) successful Clippers debut

• February 25, 2023

LOS ANGELES — The length of Russell Westbrook’s honeymoon with the Clippers might hinge on a couple of mitigating factors.

First, he has more good players around him. His new team has two superstars, the same as his old team. But the complementary players, including those the Clippers picked up at the trading deadline, are far more skilled than those the Lakers had around him. (And there is no small irony in the idea that the Lakers assembled a better supporting cast by trading Westbrook).

Second? It’s early, and this could change, but I suspect Clippers fans won’t have breakdowns every time Westbrook takes a chance that doesn’t work, which is bound to happen frequently. That’s just the type of player he is.

Plus, now that his gargantuan contract has been bought out and he’s basically playing for the veteran’s minimum with the Clippers, the “are you getting what you’re paying for” question no longer applies.

The Full Russ was on display Friday night, in the course of an historic and occasionally hysterical game between the Clippers and the Sacramento Kings, a 176-175 double-overtime Kings victory – no, that’s no typo – that was the second highest-scoring game in NBA history. It was basically what an All-Star Game might look like if players actually cared. They tried defending, honestly, but were just overmatched.

And while Westbrook’s stats weren’t eye-popping on such a crazy night, they were impressive given that he’d had just two days of practice with this group. He scored 17 points and, more significantly, had 14 assists, a sign that he’d already developed on-court compatibility with Kawhi Leonard – for instance, zipping a pass from the corner to Leonard for a wide-open 3-pointer out front – while picking up where he’d left off with Paul George from when the two were both in Oklahoma City. Given that Leonard finished the night with 44 points and George with 34, this was a good sign.

“He knew enough” of the offense from two days of practice, Coach Ty Lue said. “Knowing PG’s plays, knowing Kawhi’s plays, that’s the most important thing. So he picked those things up right away. There’s still a lot more that we can still incorporate and learn on the fly. But I thought he did a good job knowing the plays and knowing the play calls, and he did a good job with it.”

“What hurt us was (Sacramento’s) ball pressure, getting up the floor and picking up full court. That’s when we turned the basketball over. So to keep him in the game and on the floor to initiate because the pressure doesn’t bother him, I thought was key for us. And it was big. When he fouled out (with 1:49 left in the second overtime), it really hurt us.”

It is not insignificant that George and Leonard both lobbied for Westbrook, George particularly publicly and emphatically, and if the account provided by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was accurate the two stars convinced Lawrence Frank to give Westbrook a shot.

Leonard sidestepped the question of how much input he had, but noted: “Once he got here, I just told him, be yourself and have fun out there. And I just believe in him, so (I’m) just trying to give him confidence and letting him know that we’re happy to have him.”

And maybe that’s the bottom line: With the Lakers, too often he was treated as a third wheel, his determination to play his style and his game considered a detriment. The Clippers expect and encourage him to push the pace and take chances, and while it’s to be determined whether that will ultimately be productive, that encouragement in itself might be liberating.

“I’m just trying to find ways to be effective while I’m on the floor and (to do) whatever’s asked of me, screening or whatever, rolling, handling, whatever that may be, cutting,” Westbrook said. “And I just try to do different things to impact the game and (use) my IQ to be able to make plays for others.

“… I see so many things that I’m thinking about now for when I go home and watch the film tonight, just how I can be able to help make the game even more easier for them so they don’t have to work as hard. And, you know, we’ll get there.”

He didn’t make any subtle references to his situation with the Lakers – the past is the past, right – but the contrast was obvious. He received a nice roar from a crowd announced as a 19,068 sellout when he was introduced with the starting lineup, not as loud as Leonard and George but loud enough. And he got a standing ovation as he came off the court at the end after fouling out as recognition for a full night’s work, 39:27 out of 58 possible minutes.

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“I mean, it’s a blessing, you know, just the excitement in the building,” he said. “The enthusiasm from the fans and just the support that they have, not just for me but for our overall team, was great. And, you know, hopefully we can be able to keep that going as the season goes along. And I’ll do my part by playing as hard as I can, you know, when given the opportunity.

“… I think that’s something I don’t take for granted, being somewhere where given an opportunity to go play. Not just that, but the support of the organization, my teammates, the fans overall,” he said later, adding: “The support system around us was an all-time high.”

Interpret that as you will. Maybe it was a subtle reference to his former team. Maybe it wasn’t.

And maybe, with a different environment, we will see a better Russell Westbrook.

Those suggestions that the Clippers were crazy to take him on, or that he might be a net negative? Sure, it’s the ultimate small sample size of only one game, but you wonder if maybe their organization knows something we don’t.

jalexander@scng.com

17 points
5 rebounds
14 assists

Russ put in work as the Clippers fought a wild 2OT battle with the Kings on his debut pic.twitter.com/PJTuNxHM1x

— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2023

​ Orange County Register