Relish, a new celebrity-chef food festival, coming to Newport Beach

• March 7, 2025

A new, upscale food festival will launch in Newport Beach this summer, filled with celebrity chefs, tastings galore, master classes, and even a winemaker seminar. Relish, the brainchild of chef Jamie Gwen and event planner Nicole Hirsty, will take place June 27-29.

Notable chefs will include Chef Scott Conant, Tyler Florence, Gale Gand, Aarti Sequeira and Zac Young, as well as cheese maker Afrim Pristine.

The three-day event at VEA Newport Beach kicks off on a Friday with a cocktail party ($150) featuring fare and libations care of Jamie Gwen and mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim, respectively. Following the opening fete, guests can enjoy a private dinner with Scott Conant ($300), who will prepare a four-course Italian feast.

ALSO SEE: A guide to the best food halls in Orange County

Saturday will offer a slew of classes and dinners, like Gale Gand’s “Chocolate 101” ($125), a vodka and Petrossian caviar class helmed by Abou-Ganim ($125), Aarti Sequeia’s “Spice Sessions” ($125) and “An Evening with Tyler Florence” ($400) that will feature a sit-down conversation and a four-course dinner led by the Food Network star and Bay Area-based chef.

Sunday will conclude the inaugural food festival with a doughnuts-and-sushi brunch ($125), as well as a wellness event ($100) featuring a guided meditation, yoga sessions and nutrition workshops.

Tickets and event packages can be purchased at relishfoodwine.com.

​ Orange County Register 

Cal State Fullerton can’t keep up with Cal Poly in 11th straight loss

• March 7, 2025

SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team found itself on the wrong end of another lopsided result Thursday night as Cal Poly made 20 3-point shots and handed the Titans their 11th consecutive loss, 100-61.

The penultimate game of the season went the way so many have lately for Fullerton (6-25 overall, 1-18 Big West), which suffered its ninth straight loss of 15 points or more, the last five of which have been decided by 37, 30, 25, 45 and 39 points.

Antwan Robinson scored a career-high 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting (4 for 12 from 3-point range) to pace Fullerton, which had 24 turnovers and took 19 fewer shots than the Mustangs (72). Kendrick De Luna added a career-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and Zach Visentin had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and two blocked shots.

Owen Koonce scored 21 points to pace Cal Poly (13-18, 7-12), which is trying to secure one of the last spots in the eight-team field next week’s Big West Tournament. Jarred Hyder added 16 points and Isaac Jessup scored 15 (all on 3-pointers) for the Mustangs, who can secure the seventh or eighth seed with a win in their regular-season finale on Saturday at Long Beach State.

Richardson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Titans an early 10-8 lead, but Cal Poly started consistently converting on turnovers and offensive rebounds and unleashed a 21-0 run. The Mustangs had a commanding 35-12 lead less than 12 minutes into the game. The rest of the half was fairly even, but Cal Poly made 12 of its first 22 3-point shots and held a 52-30 lead at the intermission.

De Luna, Visentin and Robinson tried to keep their team in the fight, but Cal Poly’s perimeter shooting and fast-break points were too much to handle. The Mustangs used a 16-0 surge to extend their lead to 70-36 on a Koonce jumper with 13:54 remaining.

The motivated Mustangs – who shot 20 for 44 from behind the arc and fell one short of tying a 28-year-old program record for 3-pointers in a game – kept pushing the pace and closed out their Senior Night win on an 18-9 run.

Fullerton shot 21 for 53 from the field (39.6%), 5 for 22 from 3-point range and 14 for 22 from the free-throw line. Cal Poly shot 48.6% overall (35 for 72) and had 16 steals, converting Fullerton’s 24 turnovers into a 36-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

UP NEXT

Fullerton closes its season at home against UC Riverside on Saturday at 6 p.m.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Through Thursday, March 6

UC San Diego – 27-4, 17-2

UC Irvine – 26-5, 16-3

CS Northridge – 21-9, 13-6

UC Riverside – 20-11, 13-6

UC Santa Barbara – 19-11, 11-8

UC Davis – 15-15, 9-10

CS Bakersfield – 14-18, 8-12

Hawaii – 15-15, 7-12

Cal Poly (SLO) – 13-18, 7-12

Long Beach State – 7-24, 3-16

CS Fullerton – 6-25, 1-18

​ Orange County Register 

Long Beach State’s comeback falls short at UCSD

• March 7, 2025

LA JOLLA — A short-handed Long Beach State squad gave first-place UC San Diego a scare before falling short in a 70-63 loss on Thursday night at UCSD’s LionTree Arena.

Devin Askew scored a game-high 29 points to lead Long Beach (7-24 overall, 3-16 Big West), which whittled a 22-point second-half deficit to four points in the final minute but ran out of time and lost its 14th consecutive game. Derrick Michael Xzavierro added 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots, Kam Martin had eight points and Austin Johnson grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.

Tyler McGhie and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 20 points apiece for the Tritons (27-4, 17-2), who won their 12th straight game and clinched at least a share of their first Big West title with one game left in the regular season. Hayden Gray shot 3 for 7 from behind the arc to finish with nine points.

With just nine players suited up – two didn’t play – for the penultimate game of the season, Long Beach produced a gutty effort but hurt its cause with 20 turnovers (13 in the first half). The Tritons opened a 21-13 first-half lead on a McGhie 3-pointer, but LBSU surged back within four before a McGhie 3-pointer at the buzzer gave UCSD a 33-23 halftime lead.

UCSD extended its lead to 58-36 on an Aidan Burke 3-pointer with 10:48 left, but Long Beach began to battle back. LBSU used an 11-1 run to trim the margin to 63-54 on an Askew layup with 5:45 remining and he added a 3-pointer less than a minute later to make it a six-point game. The Tritons pushed their lead back to 10 points with 2:20 left, but the visitors kept fighting.

Askew converted a pair of free throws after a UCSD technical foul, then Martin made a layup to cut the lead to 67-61 with 1:52 left. McGhie, Askew and Tait-Jones all missed 3-point shots on the next three possessions, but Askew made a jumper with 28 seconds left to get LBSU within 67-63.

Long Beach was forced to foul, and McGhie split a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left before Martin missed a 3-pointer. McGhie then made two more free throws with 13 seconds left to finish the scoring.

Long Beach outrebounded UCSD 41-27 but was still outscored in the paint on a night when both teams shot below 40% from the field. LBSU shot 18 for 49 from the field (36.7%) and 7 for 23 from 3-point range, while the Tritons shot 22 for 56 (39.3%) and 10 for 33 from behind the arc. Long Beach made 20 of its 22 free throws compared to 16 for 21 for UCSD.

UP NEXT

Long Beach closes its season with a home game against Cal Poly on Saturday at 4 p.m. UCSD can win the Big West title outright with a win at UC Davis on Saturday night or a UC Irvine loss to UC Santa Barbara.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Through Thursday, March 6

UC San Diego – 27-4, 17-2

UC Irvine – 26-5, 16-3

CS Northridge – 21-9, 13-6

UC Riverside – 20-11, 13-6

UC Santa Barbara – 19-11, 11-8

UC Davis – 15-15, 9-10

CS Bakersfield – 14-18, 8-12

Hawaii – 15-15, 7-12

Cal Poly (SLO) – 13-18, 7-12

Long Beach State – 7-24, 3-16

CS Fullerton – 6-25, 1-18

​ Orange County Register 

Study tells California legislators to declare war on red tape — but will they?

• March 7, 2025

Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and its more famous cousin, the Golden Gate Bridge, began in 1933, and both were carrying traffic by 1937.

The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake severely damaged the Bay Bridge, leading to a decision to replace its eastern section rather than merely repair or refit it.

However state and local politicians argued for more than a decade over design of the new section and how to pay for it. Construction finally began in 2002 and was finished 11 years later — nearly four times as long as the entire bridge took — at a cost of $6.5 billion, the costliest public works project in California history.

The Bay Bridge saga exemplifies how California, which once taught the world how to build things, lost its mojo by erecting so many political, legal and financial hurdles to getting things done.

Sixty-plus years ago, the state’s water managers proposed a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to complete the state project that carries water from the northern part of the state to the southern.

As the years rolled by, the project languished. Eventually it was revised to twin tunnels and more recently to a single tunnel, but construction, if it ever occurs, is still many years away.

Lesser projects suffer from the same political and procedural sclerosis. It can take years, or even decades, for large-scale housing projects, electric generation facilities and desalination plants to traverse the thickets of permits from federal, state and local agencies. Even small housing projects are subject to lengthy entanglements in red tape as costs escalate.

A newly released report from a special legislative committee declares that to deal with housing, homelessness, water supply and climate change issues, California “will need to facilitate new construction at an unprecedented scale.

“This includes millions of housing units, thousands of gigawatts of clean energy generation, storage, and transmission capacity, a million electric vehicle chargers and thousands of miles of transit, and thousands of climate resiliency projects to address drought, flooding and sea level rise, and changing habitats.”

However, it continues, “each of these projects will require a government-issued permit before they can be built — and some will require dozens! Therefore, only if governments consistently issue permits in a manner that is timely, transparent, consistent, and outcomes-oriented will we be able to address our housing and climate crises. Unfortunately, for most projects, the opposite is true. They face permitting processes that are time consuming, opaque, confusing, and favor process over outcomes.”

The Legislature itself erected many of these procedural barriers — most notably by passing the California Environmental Quality Act more than a half-century ago — and the Legislature is controlled by regulation-prone Democrats, so it’s remarkable that such a report would be issued.

The California Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform spent months talking to those who have been affected by California’s permit-happy system, as well as experts on specific kinds of projects, before reaching a conclusion that sounds like it came from conservative Republicans.

“It is too damn hard to build anything in California,” Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat who chaired the committee, said in a statement. “Our broken permitting system is driving up the cost of housing, the cost of energy, and even the cost of inaction on climate change.

“If we’re serious about making California more affordable, sustainable, and resilient, we have to make it easier to build housing, clean energy, public transportation, and climate adaptation projects. This report makes it clear: the system isn’t working, and it’s on us to fix it.”

Yes it is — and we’ll see whether the report has legs or winds up in the discard bin like so many other governance reform proposals.

Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist. 

​ Orange County Register 

A boy with a loaded shotgun boarded a plane in Australia but was tackled by a former boxer

• March 7, 2025

By ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A 17-year-old boy with a loaded shotgun boarded a plane at an Australian airport before being restrained by a pilot and two passengers, police said Friday.

The boy was disarmed and detained before police arrived on the scene Thursday at Avalon Airport in Victoria state.

Barry Clark, a passenger who tackled the suspect, said the boy had posed as a maintenance worker and became agitated when questioned by a flight attendant at the plane’s entrance.

“I looked up and then within a second I saw the barrel of a shotgun and I thought to myself that ain’t a tool that should be on a plane,” Clark told Network 10 television.

“When I saw the complete gun I said: we’re in trouble here,” Clark said.

“Then I saw it (move) towards her chest and so I thought, well, I’ve got to do something — this is all happening in a matter of seconds,” Clark added.

Passenger takes on suspect

Clark, a former professional boxer and sheep shearer, said he snuck up behind the boy then pushed the gun and the flight attendant away in different directions so that she would not be hit if the gun discharged.

“I then proceeded to do what I had to do and just put him in a bit of a lock, got his hand and twisted it and put it up in his back, threw him to the floor and then put my knee in his back and held him in a position where he couldn’t get out,” Clark said.

Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Reid told reporters the boy from Ballarat in regional Victoria had climbed through a hole in the airport’s security fence before making his way to the plane’s stairs.

Reid credited Clark, the pilot and another passenger with restraining the boy.

“This would have been a very terrifying incident for the passengers of that plane and Victoria Police really commend the bravery of those passengers who were able to overpower that male,” Reid said.

Sydney-bound Jetstar Airways Flight 610 was carrying about 150 people and no one was hurt, police said. The flight was cancelled.

Counterterrorism police not involved in the investigation

An investigation was being carried out by crime squad detectives with no involvement from the police force’s counterterrorism unit.

The boy has been charged with multiple offenses including unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, orchestrating a bomb hoax and possessing a firearm, a police statement said. He was remanded in custody to appear in a children’s court on a date to be determined.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australian airports had robust security.

“This incident is concerning for members of the public. I commend the work of police and aviation officials in responding to it quickly,” Albanese told reporters.

Avalon Airport’s chief executive Ari Suss said his organization was working with Victoria Police in response to the emergency.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to security, we have implemented further measures across the airport, including within the terminal and surrounding areas,” Suss said in a statement.

“We continue to work closely with authorities to maintain a safe and secure environment for all travelers,” he added.

Jetstar, a budget subsidiary of Sydney-based Qantas Airways, said it was working with police and the airport to understand what happened.

​ Orange County Register 

Update: Los Angeles County under a winter weather advisory until early Monday evening

• March 7, 2025

Kern River Valley, Piute Walker Basin, Tehachapi, 5 Freeway through Grapevine and Frazier Mountain Communities are included in an updated winter weather advisory issued by the National Weather Service on Sunday at 8:27 p.m. The advisory is in effect until Monday, Mar. 3 at 4 p.m.

The NWS Hanford CA states to anticipate, “Snow showers, which allow a quick coating to an inch of snow to accumulate in a short time period, combined winds gusting as high as 55 mph at Tejon Pass level. From 5000 feet and above, there is a 70 percent probability for 6 inches of snow, especially in the Pine Mountain Club communities. At 3000 to 5000 feet there is a 50 percent chance of an inch or more, with at least a trace of snow expected. Snowfall rates will be heaviest from midnight Monday to 8am Monday.”

“Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous. Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Monday morning commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches,” according to the NWS. “Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions for the state you are calling from can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. Be prepared for slippery roads. Slow down and use caution while driving. If you are going outside, watch your first few steps taken on stairs, sidewalks, and driveways. These surfaces could be icy and slippery, increasing your risk of a fall and injury.”

Winter driving guide: Tips from the NWS for safe and sound travels

Winter’s icy grip often turns roads treacherous, leading to over 6,000 weather-related vehicle fatalities and more than 480,000 injuries each year. When you find yourself on snowy or freezing rain-slicked roads, your top priority should be safety. Slow down and exercise caution. In temperatures near freezing, it’s prudent to assume icy patches on the road and adjust your driving accordingly. Be on alert for ice accumulating on power lines and tree branches, as they may break and fall. If possible, avoid driving in these conditions altogether. But if you must venture out, choose routes with fewer trees and power lines, and never touch a downed power line. If you encounter one, dial 911 immediately. Here are additional winter driving tips from the NWS:

Share your travel plans:

When traveling out of town in hazardous winter weather, inform your family or friends of your destination, planned route, and estimated time of arrival.

Prepare your vehicle:

Ensure your gas tank is full and equip your vehicle with essential winter supplies, including a windshield scraper, jumper cables, a small shovel, flashlight, cell phone, blanket, extra warm clothing, drinking water, and high-calorie non-perishable food.

Stay calm when stranded:

If you become stranded, stay composed. Notify someone about your situation and location. Avoid attempting to walk to safety. Attach a cloth to your car’s antenna or mirror to signal that you require assistance. Make your vehicle more visible by using the dome light and flashers.

Be mindful of snow plows:

Keep an eye out for snow plows and allow them ample room to pass. Only overtake a plow when you have a clear view of the road ahead.

Check road conditions:

Before embarking on your journey, verify the current road conditions to make informed travel decisions.

These winter driving tips from the NWS are your key to a safer journey on snow-covered roads. By following these guidelines, you can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and ensure your well-being during challenging winter weather.

​ Orange County Register 

Russia bombards Ukraine’s energy grid after Zelenskyy says his team will hold talks with the US

• March 7, 2025

By ILLIA NOVIKOV, Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a large-scale missile and drone bombardment during the night, officials said Friday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said talks with the U.S. on ending the 3-year war will take place next week.

Ukraine came under a “massive missile and drone” attack, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook. At least 10 people, including a child, were injured, authorities said.

“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by striking energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without light and heat, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” Halushchenko wrote.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid during the war. The attacks have depleted electricity generation capacity and disrupted critical heating and water supplies. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of “weaponizing winter” in an effort to erode civilian morale.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the energy supply is a legitimate target in the war because it is “linked with Ukraine’s military industrial complex and weapons production.”

Russian air defenses downed 39 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine’s largest private gas producer, DTEK, said the overnight bombardment was Russia’s sixth attack in the past two and a half weeks on its facilities.

Russia fired 67 missiles from air, land and sea and launched 194 strike and decoy drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Their primary target was Ukraine’s natural gas extraction facilities, it said.

For the first time, Ukraine deployed French Mirage-2000 warplanes delivered a month ago to help repel the attack, according to the air force. Ukraine also has Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to shoot down Russian missiles.

Ukrainian defenses downed 34 missiles and 100 drones, the air force said, while up to 10 missiles didn’t reach their targets and 86 drones were lost from radars, presumably jammed by electronic warfare.

Western-supplied air defense systems are crucial for Ukraine’s fight but further U.S. help is uncertain under U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he is determined to end the war and has paused American military aid for Kyiv as a way of pressuring Zelenskyy to negotiate.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said Thursday he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the country’s crown prince, and his team would stay on to hold talks with U.S. officials.

Zelenskyy welcomed a European Union plan to bolster the continent’s defenses. He expressed hope that some of the new spending could be used to strengthen Ukraine’s own defense industry.

​ Orange County Register 

Unexploded WWII bomb halts Eurostar travel connecting Paris to London and Brussels

• March 7, 2025

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The discovery of a huge unexploded World War II-era bomb caused transportation chaos in Paris on Friday that included the suspension of high-speed rail links with London and Brussels and the closure of a vital road artery in the French capital, hobbling France’s busiest train station, dashing travelers’ weekend getaway plans and giving commuters a major headache.

The cascade of transport woes spread from the rail to the road network, with Paris police announcing the closure of the A1 highway and sections of the capital’s always-busy ring road around the city, as bomb-disposal experts worked to make the half-ton explosive safe.

Eurostar, operator of sleek high-speed trains through the Channel Tunnel that links England with the European continent, announced the cancellation of all its services to and from its Paris hub at Gare du Nord, France’s busiest rail station, and the U.K. and Belgian capitals.

Travel plans were thrown into disarray.

“There’s no solution. We’re going to call the hotel and stay one more day. And change our train ticket,” said Michel Garrot, a retired Parisian who found himself stranded in Brussels, which he’d been visiting with his wife.

At London’s St. Pancras station, Eurostar’s London hub, travelers scrambled for alternatives. Fridays are invariably busy there with thousands of people leaving and arriving for weekend breaks. Passengers were advised to try taking trains to Lille in northern France, or fly to Paris.

“We’re looking up flights, but our options are limited,” said Lauren Romeo-Smith, part of a group that had a birthday weekend in Paris planned.

Another St. Pancras traveler, Lee Bailey, said that Eurostar had offered him a free rebooking or a refund, and an apology, but no compensation.

“I’d like to go to a Michelin (starred) restaurant in Paris on their dime, but that’s not happening, apparently,” he told Sky News.

Eurostar said that it “sincerely apologizes for the disruption and understands the inconvenience this may cause.”

At Paris’ usually humming Gare du Nord station, bright red signs warning of disruptions greeted commuters. French national rail operator SNCF says the station habitually hosts 700,000 travelers per day, making it the busiest rail hub in both France and Europe. As well as towns and cities across northern France and the Paris suburbs, the station also serves Paris’ main airport and international destinations, including London, Brussels and cities in the Netherlands.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said that the huge disruptions were caused by the discovery of a bomb that weighed half a ton. Workers found it overnight while doing earthmoving works near the tracks in the Seine-Saint-Denis region that borders Paris to the north. Bomb disposal experts were called.

Tabarot said that a “a quite large” security perimeter was set up around the bomb-disposal operation and people were evacuated. He urged commuters to postpone rail trips.

Bombs left over from World War I or World War II are regularly discovered around France, but it’s very rare to find them in such a people-packed location. The SNCF said that rail traffic was stopped at the request of police.

Sylvie Corbet in Brussels, and Jill Lawless in London, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register