Hummingbirds displaced by the Eaton fire find a new haven at a Pasadena landmark

• March 10, 2025

Jared Nigro remembers he hadn’t even gotten through the first sentence of his presentation before Sheryl Scott said yes. It was only three days after the start of the Eaton Fire and Nigro, executive director of the Pasadena Audubon Society, was having coffee with Scott, who is director of communications and operations for The Gamble House.

The sad news was that the hummingbird cantina planned for the patio at Eaton Canyon Nature Center had been lost to the Jan. 7 inferno. Scott had a ready solution: move it to the garden of the historic Gamble House.

The new hummingbird haven is made up of five red feeders on metal shepherd’s poles situated around the Nancy Greene Glass Memorial Garden behind the bookstore. Set up two weeks ago, the cantina’s new home is only awaiting signage an Audubon volunteer is hand-crafting.

Visiting the space, Nigro and Scott pointed out different species of hummingbirds checking the cantina out. A gurgling fountain nearby offered feathered friends a drink or refreshing bath.

“I think this is to be just as much for the community as it is for the birds,” Nigro said. “Another place of nourishment for everyone.”

About one-third of Audubon Society members have been affected by the fires, either losing their homes to still not being able to return to ones not lost to the wildfire. The loss of Eaton Canyon Nature Center, where the group held meetings and dinners, is great.

“It was the center of a lot of stuff for us,” Nigro said. The new hummingbird cantina allows anyone to just be, he added.

“Let’s offer a new conversation that life after something devastating just is, and offer a steadiness and the thought that we have to get back to having fun,” Nigro said.

Audubon staff and volunteers are responsible for the regular maintenance and replenishing of food for the feeders. Volunteers sign up for three-month stints minding the cantina, mixing the nectar and refilling the feeders every day. Everyone from seniors to mothers with children have signed up to help, although more are welcome.

Volunteers from the Gamble House, in the meantime, keep the garden flourishing to match the new spot. They said hummingbirds will find fowl companions in regular garden visitors such as ravens, crows, hawks, and even a crane that likes to sit on the Gamble House chimney

The cantina will give hummingbirds access to food year round but especially during fall and spring migration. Hummingbirds must search for food in new areas due to the Eaton Fire and shifts in bloom cycles due to climate change. One particular sub-species, the Rufous Hummingbird, is being forced by climate change to leave its higher altitudes in the mountains to search for food.

“We hope this Cantina will keep the Rufous Hummingbird and all the other hummingbird species from traveling great distances and being forced to change their migration patterns,” said Alexandra Rasic, executive director of the Gamble House Conservancy, the nonprofit which operates the Craftsman-style masterpiece, completed in 1908 for Proctor and Gamble scions David and Mary Gamble and designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene.

The new collaboration has already created buzz for more programs between The Gamble House and the bird-lovers’ group. Offerings will include workshops on how to grow your own hummingbird garden and events highlighting ornithological themes found in the historic house, such as bats, owls and seabirds.

“We’re always trying to think of accessible events that allows to be on site and experience the house on their own,” Scott said, adding not one single person has had a negative reaction to news of the partnership. “It brings so much joy to everyone.”

One particular Altadena native met the news of the installation with poignant delight. Virginia Hales is the sister of Nancy Greene Glass, for whom the Gamble House garden is named. Rasic said their grandfather, Henry Greene, one of the architects of The Gamble House, lived in a 1926 Mediterranean Revival home on La Solana Avenue in Altadena.

Virginia and Nancy Greene held many happy memories of growing up in the home, which was designated a county historical landmark in 1924. It was one of many notable homes lost to the Eaton Fire.

Rasic said Hales remembers “hunting” to see if they could spy hummingbirds in that home’s garden and that the new hummingbird home base would make her sister happy.

Visitors have really enjoyed learning about the collaboration with Pasadena Audubon, too.

“We need things that bring the community together more than ever,” Rasic said.

The Gamble House welcomes everyone to its free Respite Recitals Sundays this month, featuring local musicians performing on the rear terrace of the home, not far from the new cantina. Performers include the Antonio Carter Quintet playing jazz standards from 4 to 5 p.m. on March 9; Sunday the Band performing pop hits on March 16; Birdhouse rock on March 23; and Scarlett and the Fever bringing soul to the garden on March 30.

Bird-sits on the Gamble House lawn are set from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Saturdays, April 12 and May 10. For more information, visit gamblehouse.org.

​ Orange County Register 

Former central banker Mark Carney to become Canada’s next prime minister after governing Liberals elect him party leader

• March 10, 2025

TORONTO (AP) — Former central banker Mark Carney to become Canada’s next prime minister after governing Liberals elect him party leader.

​ Orange County Register 

Rebecca Black tapped as Katy Perry’s opening act for 20 shows, including 2 in Southern California

• March 10, 2025

Rebecca Black, whose music video for the song “Friday” viral fame for all the wrong reasons when she was just 13, is getting the last laugh.

Black announced Sunday, March 9 on her Instagram page that she’s been chosen to open 20 arena shows on Katy Perry‘s The Lifetimes Tour which include stops at Honda Center in Anaheim on July 13 and the Kia Forum in Inglewood on July 15.

“Secrets out,” Black wrote in the caption to a photograph of her and Perry. “@katyperry i can’t wait to join you on THE LIFETIMES TOUR!!!!”

Perry, in turn, announced her choice of opener on her social media, writing, “About to spend a lot more Fridays with @MsRebeccaBlackWELCOME TO THE LIFETIMES TOUR BABES.” A video included with the post showed Perry joining Black on stage a few days ago, going down on one knee, and asking Black to join her on the tour.

The Orange County native had received only minimal attention for the “Friday” video when the song and video her parents partly paid to have made was released in early 2011. After its first month on YouTube it had about 1,000 views.

Then comedian Daniel Tosh posted it on the blog for his then-popular TV show “Tosh.0” and the video took off. Within a week, “Friday” had 13 million views and the reviews on social media were, well, not kind. At all. (The video has 174 million views on YouTube today.)

In her first-ever interview, Rebecca and her mother told the Orange County Register what it had been like to see a fun song and video project turn into a tsunami of terribleness.

But Black, now 27, never gave up. As 2011 unfolded, a counterwave of support for the bullied Black emerged. It included an appearance in Katy Perry’s music video for “Last Friday Night.” Later that same year Black joined Perry on stage at the then-Nokia Theatre, singing a snippet of “Friday” with her at the downtown Los Angeles venue.

She recorded more songs in the years that followed, many of them somewhat generic pop tunes, and played small shows in tiny venues to keep going. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, and started working in an edgier vein.

Then, 11 years after “Friday,” Black’s years of sticking to the dream paid off. Suddenly, she was cool, playing a sold-out show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, DJing a set at the Do Lab at Coachella that year, and more.

This year, the release of the new album “Salvation,” arrived and major news outlets covered her like any other rising young pop star.

And now, 14 years after she sat in her mother’s home in Yorba Linda, describing how she cried as the digital trolls mocked “Friday,” she’s coming home to Orange County to play one of its biggest venues as the support act on Perry’s tour.

​ Orange County Register 

Austin Barnes back for another season as the one of the Dodgers’ ‘glue guys’

• March 10, 2025

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The longest tenured position player on the Dodgers’ roster prefers to keep his head down while focusing on the daily grind, even as the potential end of an era looms.

Austin Barnes is as decorated as anybody on the current roster when it comes to team accomplishments, with two World Series rings and four appearances in the Fall Classic.

The SoCal kid on the hometown team has 10 seasons of major league experience, with over 8 1/2 years of official service time, and every one of his previous seasons has ended in the postseason. Barnes has 44 games of playoff experience, 17 of which have come in World Series games.

He even caught the final strike of the 2020 World Series, flipping his catcher’s mask in the air before jamming the baseball in his back pocket to later present as a keepsake.

“There’s not many guys playing today that have caught the last out of a World Series game and that have been a part of an organization for so long,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think he understands the fabric of and culture of our club. He’s one of the glue guys, he really is.

“Guys respect him, and he does whatever we need from him. He’s one of the guys I count on for consistency and messaging and also performance.”

The Riverside native could be gone by now, but the front office would not have it. Barnes signed a two-year contract extension midway through the 2022 season that paid him through 2024. Yet he is still here, in 2025, occupying his familiar corner locker in the Camelback Ranch clubhouse.

In a week to remember this past fall, Barnes celebrated the Dodgers’ World Series title in New York, rode atop a bus through downtown Los Angeles amid 250,000 revelers two days later in the championship parade, and waited just three days more to learn that the club was picking up his $3.5 million option for 2025.

After a series of life-changing events, he refuses to make a big deal about any of them.

“You know, I don’t really like to look too far ahead or too far behind,” Barnes said after playing in Sunday’s spring game against the Athletics. “I think there will be a time for that. I’ve been very lucky to be on really good teams, playing in some important games. I couldn’t ask for a better thing than to play for the Dodgers.”

The club’s contract option had no buyout clause. The Dodgers could have let Barnes walk at no cost and found a veteran backup for less. But the steady presence behind the plate, who has served as Clayton Kershaw’s regular catcher, continues to have value to the club.

“I think me and (Kershaw) relate just to the kind of competitors we are, whether we’re playing basketball or ping pong or golf,” Barnes said. “Coming up, I feel like he’s been in the league since I was in the third grade but he likes to remind me that he’s only a year older than me. But it’s awesome to be able to go out there and go to war with him.”

Quiet by nature, the Arizona State alum studies behind the scenes to make sure he is prepared as anybody at calling a game. His 59 games (42 starts) as Will Smith’s backup last season were the lowest of his career, not counting the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and yet he never cut corners with his preparation time.

Without any guarantees beyond this season, Barnes’ Dodgers days could be coming to a close, but his primary concern still is to assist others in order to bring about another playoff run.

“I try to strike a balance, but I realize here, with how many good pitchers we have, that as a catcher, if you didn’t take care of the defensive side … they’re trusting you,” Barnes said about trying to strike a balance of being prepared for the staff while also trying to stay sharp as a hitter.

“The organization has put me in some big games for a reason. They trust me behind the plate and the way I can navigate a lineup. Yeah, you take pride on playing both sides of the baseball, but defense is very important.”

RARE SIGHTING

New Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell made just his second start in Cactus League play, giving up four runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics.

Snell, who signed a five-year, $182 million contract in the offseason, pitched just one inning in a game against the Seattle Mariners on Feb. 25, giving up a hit with a strikeout.

“Everyone wants to come into spring and they’ll expect, ‘Oh, Cy Young Blake,’ but that’s not realistic,” Snell said. “I’m learning, I’m growing, I’m getting better. It takes all of spring to really start figuring it out that I need to do this or need to do this a little different than I did last year. You’re figuring out who you are this year. It’s such a big thing.

“I was pretty happy with it. Fastball command could get better.”

Snell did pitch on a back field Monday to stay on track for the start of the regular season. His next outing is scheduled to come in an exhibition game in Japan and he will pitch one time, either in a Freeway Series game against the Angels or a simulated game.

GROVE DONE FOR SEASON

Right-hander Michael Grove will not pitch in 2025 after undergoing right shoulder labrum surgery.

Moved into the bullpen last season, Grove got off to a fast start with 37 strikeouts over 28 1/3 innings over his first 22 outings. He slowed down considerably by the start of June and had a 4.76 ERA over his last 17 outings, while spending nearly two months on the injured list with lat tightness.

A member of the National League Division Series roster, Grove made one appearance against the San Diego Padres before he was replaced by right-hander Ben Casparius. He was not included on the NL Division Series or World Series rosters.

The shoulder repair of Grove’s second major surgery since 2017.

“He’s already had Tommy John. He didn’t want to do another surgery, and he tried to tough it out and pitch through it,” Roberts said. “But it was just compromising his performance and recovery. He’s obviously disappointed, given he was ready to compete for a job this year.”

In 64 career appearances (20 starts) over three seasons, Grove is 7-7 with a 5.48 ERA with 151 strikeouts and 45 walks in 149 1/3 innings.

​ Orange County Register 

Rams, WR Davante Adams agree to two-year contract

• March 10, 2025

The Rams made a big splash Sunday ahead of the opening of free agency, signing All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams to a two-year contract, the club announced.

Adams, who after being released by the Jets was free to sign a contract ahead of the opening of the legal tampering period Monday, is the first big offseason addition for the Rams, who already agreed to a restructured contract with quarterback Matthew Stafford and re-signed left tackle Alaric Jackson and receiver Tutu Atwell this month.

The 32-year-old Adams is a three-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler who has twice led the NFL in receiving touchdowns. He is entering his 12th NFL season after a standout career at Fresno State, but has shown little sign of slowing down.

Split across time with the Jets and the Raiders, he still accounted for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. It marked the fifth straight season Adams has surpassed 1,000 passing yards.

Beyond his receiving accolades, Adams fits in culturally to what the Rams’ receiver room does in both aspects of the offense, known as a willing and capable blocker in the run game.

With the deal, reportedly worth $46 million with $26 million guaranteed, Adams joins Puka Nacua as Stafford’s one-two punch in the receiving game. The Rams had needed a serious boost to the receiving corps heading into the offseason. Beyond Nacua, only Jordan Whittington and punt returner Xavier Smith were under team control for 2025.

Now with Adams and Atwell in the fold alongside Nacua, the Rams have a group that complements each other well. Adams can line up at the X receiver spot and win downfield and in jump-ball situations, particularly in the end zone. Nacua can continue to operate in motion and on crossing routes, while Atwell can stretch the field.

Adams’ arrival is likely the final blow to any chance that longtime Ram Cooper Kupp returns for 2025 after being put on the trading block last month. Last week, head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead did not completely rule out bringing Kupp back for next season, but Snead called it “the least likely option”.

Now, the Rams have another star receiver to pair with Nacua. And the Rams have made the kind of splashy, big-name acquisition that was commonplace during the team’s pursuit of the Super Bowl LVI title, but had been put on the backburner following the 2022 season as the Rams reset their salary cap.

But the Rams have made two playoff appearances since that cursed 2022 campaign, winning the NFC West in 2024 and coming 13 yards away from a trip to the NFC championship game. They can afford to make all-in moves again, and Adams is that type of acquisition.

Or, as safety and captain Quentin Lake put it on X Sunday evening, “Things just got real serious.”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers lose to Athletics as Blake Snell struggles

• March 10, 2025

THE GAME: The Dodgers fell into a four-run hole in Blake Snell’s second start of the spring and dropped a 7-5 decision to the Athletics at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.

OFFENSIVE REPORT: James Outman delivered his third extra-base hit of the spring and first home run with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. … After entering as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning, Chris Taylor had hits in consecutive at-bats, including his second double of the spring. … Hyeseong Kim had a two-run single in the seventh inning to double his RBI total on his fifth hit of the spring.

PITCHING REPORT: In his second Cactus League outing, left-hander Blake Snell gave up four runs on five hits over 3 2/3 innings, while striking out five on 67 pitches. Snell gave up a home run to the left-handed hitting Drew Avans, a former Dodgers minor leaguer. Snell gave up just two home runs to left-handed batters in 67 plate appearances last season. … While right-hander Kirby Yates had a strikeout in a scoreless inning, right-hander Blake Treinen gave up a run in his lone inning of work. … Left-hander Tanner Scott gave up a hit in a scoreless inning as the back end of the bullpen all worked in succession.

DEFENSIVE REPORT: First baseman David Bote turned in an unassisted double play to end the top of the eighth inning, hitting the ground to catch a line drive down the line from Alejo Lopez before tagging the bag with his glove to also retire Avans at first.

UP NEXT: Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto) vs. Diamondbacks (RHP John Curtis), Monday, Camelback Ranch, Glendale, Ariz., 1:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Officials say heavy rains in Argentina kill at least 15 as dozens reported missing

• March 9, 2025

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Heavy rains that flooded a city on Argentina’s east coast in recent days have killed at least 15 people, officials said Sunday.

Rescue teams were searching for dozens of others reported missing, including two girls and two adults. Authorities said they were swept away by floodwaters unleashed by rains that began pelting the city of Bahía Blanca on Friday.

Crews have evacuated more than 1,450 people from the city located south of the capital of Buenos Aires. Those evacuated include patients from a local hospital.

Some 12 inches (300 millimeters) of rain have fallen in Bahía Blanca in recent days, when the historical monthly average is about 5 inches (129 millimeters).

No rain was forecast for the next 72 hours.

​ Orange County Register 

Laguna Woods resident helps save friend’s life in ocean rescue

• March 9, 2025

By Anita Gosch and Laylan Connelly

Orange County Register/Laguna Woods Globe

Christmas morning last year was windy and chilly, with the sun making feeble attempts to peek out from behind the clouds. The waves at T-Street Beach in San Clemente were large but choppy.

Still, Randy Cumming hoped to catch a few good ones on his bodyboard before he had to hustle off to a holiday dinner.

For Cumming, a Laguna Woods resident since 2017 who grew up in Mission Viejo, the day started like so many others in his decades of bodyboarding at T-Street.

Only this day turned out to be very different.

After about two hours in the water, Cumming was tired and ready to leave, but he decided to wait just a bit longer to see if he could catch one last good wave.

He saw his buddy Olivier Eustache, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident, paddle up from the south. Both were part of a close-knit group of 15 to 20 bodyboarders at T-Street.

“Merry Christmas,” Cumming called out.

“Merry Christmas,” Eustache called back.

“That’s when I saw him roll over on his back,” Cumming said in a recent interview at his home.

Cumming thought his friend was just resting on his board. But then he saw that Eustache’s eyes had rolled to the back of his head. He called out to him but got no response.

“When I saw the whites of his eyes, I knew he was out,” Cumming said.

He quickly paddled over, saw that his friend was unconscious and moved to hold Eustache’s head above the water.

Cumming saw two surfers nearby and yelled to them for help. It turned out they were both former lifeguards, and they were there in 10 seconds, he said.

They worked to get Eustache back to shore, with Cumming swimming backward for 300 yards while cradling his friend’s head.

It was a full six minutes from the time that Cumming got to his buddy’s side to the time they made it to shore, he said. He heard later that by that time, Eustache’s heart had stopped beating.

Nearly 20 people played a part in saving Eustache’s life that day. And they were all in the right place at the right time.

“It all fit together like the pieces of a puzzle,” Cumming said.

When they got to shore, “my part was done,” he said.

The two nearby surfers and former lifeguards, Luke Overin and Daniel Richens, and local pro surfer Kade Matson helped pull Eustache to shore.

Richens, a former State Parks lifeguard, took off Eustache’s fins and put them on his own feet to help his swimming strength and speed. Overin, a former San Clemente city lifeguard, lifted his surfboard above his head to signal to lifeguards that help was needed.

Three other surfers in the water – pro surfers Sawyer Lindblad and David Economos and 13-year-old Ellis Avery – noticed the rescue in progress and paddled to the beach to get help.

Avery, a junior lifeguard for five years, called 911 from the beach.

San Clemente Marine Safety Officers Hayden Paul and Ian Burton rushed to action, helping to bring Eustache to the sand.

Nathan Vandergast, a surfer from Oceanside, saw the rescue unfold from his parents’ patio above the surf break and called the lifeguard department.

Paul and OCFA firefighter Sean Garvey, who happened to be watching the waves from a cliff above and rushed down to help, began administering CPR.

Burton and Paul then used an Automatic External Defibrillator, or AED, to shock Eustache multiple times until his heart started beating again.

Lifeguards, OCFA Station 60 firefighters and EMTs with Falck ambulance service all worked to stabilize Eustache.

Eustache woke up six days later, on Dec. 31, with no recollection of what unfolded on Christmas Day. Doctors had no explanation for why the 49-year-old man’s heart stopped beating, but he now has a defibrillator implanted into his chest, just in case.

Earlier this month, the nearly 20 fellow bodyboarders, surfers and first responders filled the San Clemente City Hall chambers to receive official recognition for their heroic lifesaving actions. They were handed plaques and the gift of gratitude for their quick-thinking efforts that saved Eustache’s life.

“All of you are true heroes. You all worked as a team to save a fellow waterman,” said Marine Safety Chief Rod Mellott. “Without everyone’s effort, we wouldn’t be here today with Oli. You’re all heroes and deserve the recognition.”

Eustache was also at the award ceremony.

“Everybody played a role at the right time, at the right moment to pull me out of the water. Thank God and thanks to my angels, I’m here today,” he said, his arms stretched out to the long line of people credited with saving his life.

Cumming was among those receiving the official recognition, plaques and the eternal gratitude of his friend. He still has a hard time believing how it all went down.

“It’s weird,” he said in the interview. “You don’t really think – you just do it. I didn’t get frazzled until I got back to my car.”

He never had an experience like he did that Christmas Day at T-Street Beach, he said, never even thought he would ever have such an experience.

“I always figured it would be me, since I’m the old guy out there,” the 62-year-old said.

“And if anything ever happened to me like what happened to my friend,” Cumming said, “just let me float out to sea.”

​ Orange County Register