Most Americans who experienced severe winter weather see climate change at work, poll shows

• February 28, 2025

By TAMMY WEBBER and AMELIA THOMSON-DeVEAUX, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Ries has lived in Florida only three years, but everyone told him last summer was unusually hot. That was followed by three hurricanes in close succession. Then temperatures dropped below freezing for days this winter, and snow blanketed part of the state.

To Ries, 29, an Ohio native now in Tampa, the extreme weather — including the bitter cold — bore all the hallmarks of climate change.

“To me it’s just kind of obvious,” said Ries, a project manager for an environmental company and self-described conservative-leaning independent. “Things are changing pretty drastically; just extreme weather all across the country and the world. … I do think humans are speeding up that process.”

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say they have experienced some kind of extreme weather in recent years, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with about half saying they’ve been personally affected by severe cold weather or severe winter storms.

Among those saying severe cold was among the types of extreme weather they experienced, about three-quarters say climate change is at least a partial cause of those events — suggesting that many understand global warming can create an unstable atmosphere that allows cold air from the Arctic to escape farther south more often.

Midwesterners are most likely to feel the brunt of the cold weather, with about 7 in 10 adults who live in the Midwest experiencing severe cold in the past five years, compared with about half of residents of the South and the Northeast and about one-third of those in the West, the survey found.

“It’s counterintuitive to think, ‘Oh, gee, it’s really cold. That probably has something to do with global warming,’” said Liane Golightly-Kissner, of Delaware, Ohio, north of Columbus, who believes climate change is influencing many weather extremes.

Golightly-Kissner, 38, said it was so cold this winter that schools were closed and her family let faucets drip to prevent burst pipes. She remembers one extremely cold day when she was a child in Michigan, but she says now it seems to happen more often and over multiple days.

The poll also found that, while only about one-quarter of U.S. adults feel climate change has had a major impact on their lives so far, about 4 in 10 think it will in their lifetimes — including on their health, local air quality and water availability. About half of adults under age 30 believe climate change will impact them personally.

About 7 in 10 U.S. adults believe climate change is occurring, and they are much more likely to think it has had or will have a major impact on them than those who say climate change isn’t happening.

Americans are catching on, said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, who credits a combination of media coverage, political leaders speaking up and public concerns that creates a “symbiotic relationship.”

“We have seen growing awareness among the American people that climate change is affecting them here and now,” though many still see it as a distant problem that their grandchildren will have to worry about, he said.

Rosiland Lathan, 60, of Minden, Louisiana, said she’s a believer because it seems that summers are getting hotter and winters colder — including a couple years ago, when snow and ice kept her car stuck at work for several days.

This winter, she said, there was a stretch of temperatures in the teens and 20s, while a couple of summers ago, it got “real, real hot” with highs in the 100s.

“It’s normally hot in Louisiana, but not that hot,” Lathan said.

Hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters, like the devastating Southern California fires, also have many concerned that climate change could lead to higher property insurance premiums and household energy costs.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned about increasing property insurance premiums, and just over half are similarly concerned about climate change’s impact on energy costs, the AP-NORC survey found. About half are “extremely” or “very” concerned that climate change will increase costs for local emergency responders and infrastructure costs for government. Republicans are less worried than Democrats and independents.

The survey also found broad support for a range of measures to help people who live in areas becoming more susceptible to extreme weather and natural disasters, with the exception of restricting new construction in these communities.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said they “somewhat” or “strongly” favor providing money to local residents to help them rebuild in the same community after disasters strike, while similar shares support providing money to make residents’ property more resistant to natural disasters and providing homeowners’ insurance to people who cannot get private insurance. About one-quarter of Americans neither favor nor oppose each of these proposals, while around 1 in 10 are “somewhat” or “strongly” opposed.

When it comes to restricting new construction, opinion is more divided. About 4 in 10 “somewhat” or “strongly” favor restricting new construction in areas that are especially vulnerable to natural disasters, about 4 in 10 have a neutral view and about 2 in 10 are “somewhat” or “strongly” opposed.

Golightly-Kissner said she believes there should be rebuilding restrictions or tougher building standards in disaster-prone areas.

“These extreme weather conditions, they’re not going anywhere, and it would be hubris for us to continue in the same way,” she said. “I think we we have to change. We have to look toward the future and what’s the best way to keep our lives together when this happens again. Because it’s really not a question of if, it’s when.”

The AP-NORC poll of 1,112 adults was conducted Feb. 6-10, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

​ Orange County Register 

Israel’s army admits failures on Oct. 7. Its probe of the attack could put pressure on Netanyahu

• February 28, 2025

By TIA GOLDENBERG, Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An investigation by the Israeli military has determined that Hamas was able to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on Oct. 7, 2023, because the much more powerful Israeli army misjudged the group’s intentions and underestimated its capabilities.

The findings, released Thursday, could pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a widely demanded broader inquiry to examine the political decision-making that preceded the attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Many Israelis believe the mistakes of Oct. 7 extend beyond the military, and they blame Netanyahu for what they view as a failed strategy of deterrence and containment in the years leading up to the attack. That strategy included allowing Qatar to send suitcases of cash into Gaza and sidelining Hamas’ rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The prime minister has not taken responsibility, saying he will answer tough questions only after the war, which has been paused for nearly six weeks by a tenuous ceasefire. Despite public pressure, including from the families of the roughly 1,200 people killed in the Oct. 7 attack and the 251 taken as hostages into Gaza, Netanyahu has resisted calls for a commission of inquiry.

The military’s main findings were that the region’s most powerful and sophisticated military misread Hamas’ intentions, underestimated its capabilities and was wholly unprepared for the surprise attack by thousands of heavily armed terrorists in the early morning hours of a major Jewish holiday.

In comments made to military commanders Monday, and shared with the media on Thursday, the army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said he took responsibility for the army’s failures.

“I was the commander of the military on October 7th, and I have my own responsibility. I also carry the weight of all your responsibility — that, too, I see as mine,” said Halevi, who announced his resignation in January and is set to step down next week.

The military’s findings are in line with past conclusions reached by officials and analysts. The military released only a summary of the report and military officials outlined its findings.

“Oct. 7 was a complete failure,” said one military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

A central misconception was that Hamas, which seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, was more interested in governing the territory than fighting Israel, the inquiry found.

The military also misjudged the group’s capabilities. Military planners had envisioned that, at worst, Hamas could stage a ground invasion from up to eight border points, the official said. In fact, Hamas had more than 60 attack routes.

Intelligence assessed in the aftermath of the attack has shown Hamas came close to staging the offensive on three earlier occasions but delayed it for unknown reasons, the official said.

The official said that in the hours before the attack, there were signs that something was amiss, including when Hamas fighters switched their phones over to the Israeli network.

The perception that Hamas did not want war guided decision makers away from taking action that night that might have thwarted the attack. The Israeli military official said intelligence shows that Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack who was killed last October, had begun planning it as early as 2017.

With the military off guard on a holiday weekend, Hamas launched a heavy wave of rockets that allowed thousands of fighters to burst through the security fence or fly over it on hang gliders. They knocked out surveillance cameras and quickly overwhelmed hundreds of soldiers stationed along the border.

From there they advanced to key highway intersections and attacked troops dispatched to the area, including some senior officers, disrupting the military’s command and control, according to a second military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

For the first three hours after the attack, Hamas fighters marauded through border communities and a music festival with little resistance. That was when most of the 251 hostages were taken and most people were killed, the official said. The official said the chaos led to friendly fire incidents, although he said there were not many, without disclosing a figure.

It took hours for the military to regain control and days until the area was fully cleared of fighters.

According to the first official, the report blamed the military for being overconfident in its knowledge and not showing enough doubt in its core concepts and beliefs. The summary said a key lesson was that Israel could not let a threat develop on its border.

It spelled out several recommendations, including creating special units meant to prepare for such surprise and large-scale events, as well as reform in the military intelligence department that would foster “openness, skepticism, listening, learning.”

It did not place blame on any individual soldiers or officers, but is likely to pave the way for a reckoning in the military and eventual dismissals.

Some high-ranking officers other than Halevi have also resigned, including the former head of military intelligence.

​ Orange County Register 

Hundreds fired at weather agency as US faces storm, wildfire warnings

• February 28, 2025

Lauren Rosenthal, Brian K. Sullivan and Ari Natter | Bloomberg

The Trump administration fired hundreds of employees at the top US agency overseeing weather prediction and climate research, raising concerns about the nation’s preparedness amid wildfire and tornado warnings.

The cuts affect the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service and a vast observational system that supplies free data to commercial forecasters. The move is part of a broad effort by the administration to shrink the size of the federal government.

At least 880 people were terminated, Senator Maria Cantwell, the ranking member on the Senate Committee that oversees the agency, said in a statement Thursday. Hundreds more are expected to be let go at NOAA as soon as Friday, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private.

“It’s ridiculous that this is happening to government employees,” said Marnie Brown, who was fired from her job Thursday as a program specialist providing administrative support in NOAA’s Office of General Counsel in Silver Spring, Maryland. She added that the agency “touches your life from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the ocean.”

The firings are taking place just as critical fire weather conditions are expected to develop this weekend in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. A potentially severe round of thunderstorms, hail and even tornadoes is forecast for the lower Mississippi River Valley next week, said the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, which is part of the NWS.

Typically, the weather service has at least two meteorologists on duty overnight at its more than 120 forecast offices across the US. The staff writes outlooks, launches weather balloons to collect data, and issues warnings for flash floods and tornadoes. When severe weather strikes, such as hurricanes, additional staff are often brought in and more observations can be ordered to feed computer forecast models.

NOAA employed about 12,000 prior to the cuts, including more than 6,700 scientists and engineers and a uniformed service that operates NOAA’s fleet of research ships and planes. Rick Spinrad, an oceanographer who led NOAA during the Biden administration, said the agency had been working to fill vacant positions after a wave of retirements in 2024.

Losing workers “will cause a lot of damage and potentially loss of lives, impact on property and economic development,” Spinrad said. “The mission will suffer. The agency was already understaffed, so if you are cutting into it, you are already cutting into bone.”

NWS spokesperson Susan Buchanan declined to confirm the exact size and scope of the job cuts, citing “long-standing practice” against discussing personnel or management matters at the agency.

“NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience,” Buchanan said in an email Thursday. “We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission.”

Almost 21 million people will have at least a 15% chance of experiencing severe weather Tuesday, including those in Dallas, St. Louis and Nashville. Last year, severe storms — including an outbreak of 110 tornadoes across the central US — killed 51 people and caused about $46.8 billion in damage, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

NWS weather forecasts are produced by staff at local field offices, which also maintain critical monitoring equipment. In a bulletin Thursday morning — hours before job cuts were announced — Mike Hopkins, a director in NOAA’s Office of Observations, said the agency was “indefinitely suspending” weather balloon launches from Kotzebue, Alaska, due a staffing shortage at the local forecasting station.

The cuts to NOAA come amid an effort from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to reduce the size of the federal workforce. That initiative has included a voluntary program for transitioning to retirement and instructions from the Office of Personnel Management to fire probationary employees, who typically have held their positions for two years or less and sometimes previously served as contractors.

More layoffs are in the works: The White House has directed federal agencies to submit plans by March 13 for “large-scale reductions in force,” in the first phase of more drastic cuts to the federal workforce.

Conservative critics have called for NOAA to be broken up and its responsibilities and assets distributed among other federal departments. But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees the agency, testified at his confirmation hearing in January that he believes NOAA should remain intact.

Neil Jacobs, the scientist who has been nominated as NOAA’s next administrator, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Jacobs, who was acting NOAA administrator during President Donald Trump’s first term, was cited for misconduct related to the “Sharpiegate” hurricane forecasting controversy.

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: As women’s basketball grows, remember Diana Taurasi, one of the builders

• February 28, 2025

The world according to Jim:

• Diana Taurasi announced her retirement this week, and the news seemed way underplayed. All of the things that are coming to the current stars of women’s basketball, in its era of newly discovered popularity and prosperity, have been built on the accomplishments of the sport’s past stars, and Taurasi – Chino Don Lugo High’s own, University of Connecticut star, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer with the Phoenix Mercury and a six-time Olympic gold medalist – might be the OG of the OGs. …

• A reminder, for those whose exposure to the women’s game is recent: For years the stars of the WNBA had to play overseas in the fall and winter just to pull in anywhere near the salary appropriate for a professional athlete. There was, in fact, a season in the middle of the last decade when the team Taurasi played for in Russia paid her a bonus to take the WNBA season off and get some rest. (Rest, of course, being a foreign concept to Taurasi, who couldn’t get enough of this game.) …

• This was, of course, well before the arrest of Brittany Griner in Russia in 2022, which should have been a sign for Americans to reconsider playing in that country. More of them now play in the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league, and their salaries for that circuit augment a WNBA pay scale that still lags but could jump upward soon, since negotiations for a new collective bargaining contract will take place following the 2025 season. …

• I asked Taurasi in a 2014 interview, when she had just turned 32, how long she wanted to play. “I’m gonna play until it’s not fun or I can’t walk, one or the other,” she said. “We’ll see which one comes first.”

But eventually the fatigue overrides the fun. Taurasi said in an exclusive retirement announcement with Time Magazine earlier this week that while she usually starts to ramp up her workout schedule around the first of the year, this New Year’s “I just didn’t have it in me. That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away.” …

• If the TV folks are looking for someone outspoken, feisty and funny – the female Charles Barkley, perhaps – the search should stop at Diana’s doorstep. Consider, for example, her reminiscence of where her ferocious work ethic came from.

“I guess I want to go out there and play every day,” she said in that 2014 interview. “When I was younger if I didn’t have practice I was in the driveway every single day. Ask my mom. She’d yell, ‘Get in the house!’ It was 11:30 and boomp, boomp, I’d be playing, the neighbors would be screaming and yelling. I just loved doing it, loved playing, loved the game.”

She loved the game, and the game loved her back. That’s a fair trade. …

• I’m not sure how much attention Colorado two-way football star Travis Hunter has paid to Shohei Ohtani, but his insistence that he wants to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL might run into the same resistance Ohtani faced when he was determined to both pitch and hit. The difference here: Being a designated hitter in baseball is far less perilous than it is in football.

The quote attributed to him by ESPN: “They say, ‘nobody has ever done it the way I do it.’ I tell them, ‘I’m just different.’” We’ll see who, if anyone, is willing to let him try. …

• Nestor Cortes – former New York Yankee, now in the Milwaukee Brewers’ camp, last seen trudging off the mound while Freddie Freeman took his joyful trip around the bases at the end of Game 1 of the World Series last October – was bold enough to say in a recent interview with The Athletic, “We were the better team.”

His rationalization seems rather pained.

“We had done enough to win that (Game 1),” Cortes said. “They can talk whatever they want to talk, but we win Game 1 – which we should have – we lost 2 and 3, we win Game 4 and we should have won Game 5. Then we go back to L.A. up 3 to 2. So people can say it slipped away from us, people can say we made a lot of mistakes, which we did. But at the end of the day, we were the better team.”

Suit yourself, Nestor. Bottom line is, the scoreboard determines which is the better team, always. And the rings are going to be handed out in L.A. …

• Tristan Boyer, a former Stanford tennis star who reached his first main draw at a Grand Slam event last month at the Australian Open, will participate in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells beginning next week, but he has some business to attend to first.

Boyer, an Altadena native whose family had to evacuate their home during last month’s fires, will hold a fundraiser for fire relief and autograph session Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the 24 Hour Fitness in Altadena, 2180 Lincoln Ave., building 4. Additionally, 24 Hour Fitness will donate $200 for every Boyer ace at Indian Wells. …

• Things I wish I’d written: “When Don Drysdale entered a room, the room knew it. When Drysdale walked to the top of a mound, it seemed to grow and rise, and everyone in the ballpark knew anything was possible or at least memorable.”

That is the first paragraph of retired SCNG columnist Mark Whicker’s biography of Big D, “Up And In: The Life Of A Dodgers Legend” (Triumph Books, $30), which hit bookstores and online book platforms last week. If you are a fan of this publication’s former lead columnist – and really, why wouldn’t you be – this book is absolutely worth your time, as is Whicker’s Substack newsletter, The Morning After.

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in February

• February 28, 2025

Maybe it’s the fact that February is the shortest month of the year, but the past few weeks have definitely flown by. But that didn’t stop our features team from wining and dining across Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire.

• Also see: The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in January

This month’s round-up features classic meals from staples in the Southern California community as well as new spots worth checking out. A hidden theme on the list? Sandwiches. Most of our reporters seemed to include a dish of a tasty filling between two slices of bread, including a Bánh Mì, a patty melt and a classic grilled cheese.

Here’s a look at the best things we ate throughout Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire in January.

Related: See the best things we ate in Southern California in 2024.

Thit Nuong/Grilled Pork Bánh Mì – Pickle Banh Mi, Long Beach

I have yet to taste bánh mì that I didn’t like, but the Thit Nuong/Grilled Pork at Pickle Banh Mi in Long Beach has taken my heart and taste buds. The Vietnamese dish has all the staples of bánh mì, including cilantro, cucumbers, jalapenos, pickled carrots and onions between a crispy baguette with a mayo and pâté spread. As for the grilled pork, it was a perfect balance of flavor without overpowering the sandwich while keeping a soft but firm texture that felt like it was melting with every bite.

— Charlie Vargas, Features Reporter

Patty melt with tallow fries – Le Hut Dinette, Santa Ana

The founders of Heritage Barbecue opened their newest spot, Le Hut Dinette, in February. Its inaugural lunch menu, conceived by the executive chef Ryan Garlitos, featured such fare as chicken and rice soup, chili cheese fries, tacos (brisket barbacoa, chicken mole, work chile verde), chocolate bibingka and, praise be, a patty melt with tallow fries. Much to my relief, the patty melt was neither a strained nor newfangled take on the classic patty melt, which, after nearly 80 years on diner menus, doesn’t benefit from reformulation. Le Hut Dinette’s sublime version comes with ground brisket, caramelized onions, requisite American cheese, pickles and special sauce sandwiched between toasted milk bread from its neighbor, 61 Hundred Bread. The dish came with a side of fries fried in tallow (beef fat), rendering them richer and tastier than their vegetable oil-fried counterparts.

— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter

• Also see: Le Hut Dinette in Santa Ana announces menu and opening date

Mile High Omelet – Broken Yolk Café, Temecula

Breakfast is the best meal of the day, and for my money, the best thing for breakfast is a Denver omelet – or, if you go to Broken Yolk Café: the Mile High Omelet. One of eight omelets on the menu, this beauty was filled with diced ham, green bell pepper and onion, plus American cheese. … I later noticed I could have added diced tomato. Next time. When I visited in early February, Broken Yolk had no surcharge for egg dishes to help cover the commodity’s higher cost due to the bird flu’s effects on egg availability. Other restaurants, including Denny’s, have started tacking on an extra fee.

• Also see: Some OC restaurants are tacking on surcharges. Here’s what diners did about it

My order was served with home-style fries and a blueberry muffin; other options include hash browns, fresh fruit, Mexican rice, refried or black beans, a biscuit, English muffin, tortillas or toast. Broken Yolk Café has 30 Southern California locations, including Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Corona and Temecula.

— Jerry Rice, Audience Engagement Producer

Oxtail pho – Phởholic, Costa Mesa

While meals are frequent occasions for togetherness or celebration, there’s a certain freedom in escaping the incessant chatter of others by enjoying a meal in one’s own company. Phởholic, a small Vietnamese eatery in South Coast Plaza, understands such ethos by offering a series of private solo dining booths. During a recent visit after window shopping at stores beyond my tax bracket, I popped in for a bowl of oxtail pho, which was expectedly savory, rich and complex. Wonderful. But the highlight was the aforementioned private dining experience. Once seated in your cubicle-ish pod, a set of horizontal blinds rise revealing a window into the kitchen, a server on the other side takes your order, and a few minutes later, a pair of hands place your dish in front of you. The shutters are then lowered for immediate and maximum privacy. Turns out the best way to recover from delusional window shopping was a little window – and pho – of my own.

— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup – Laurel Tavern, Studio City

When it rains, all I want is a grilled cheese and tomato soup. Given the fact that Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe in Disneyland is closed for refurbishment, I wasn’t able to get the iconic combo there while at the Anaheim theme park. Because of this, I was on a quest to fill my craving. I decided to check out Laurel Tavern in Studio City which has a variety of food menu items in addition to their drink selection. The grilled cheese combo worked out beautifully. I loved the addition of roasted tomatoes inside the grilled cheese. Of course, the quality check comes from dipping the grilled cheese into the tomato soup, and it easily passed the test. I also paired my meal with their Lavender Fields mocktail, which was a refreshing beverage.

— Carolyn Burt, Audience Engagement Producer

Bacon Wrapped Bratwurst – Nava Sausage Company, Redlands

The Nava Sausage company has a great selection of various sausages to choose from. Whether you want it in a grilled cheese or straight up on a bun, there are options for you. I opted for the bacon-wrapped bratwurst with grilled onions and sauerkraut. I also got a side of garlic fries, and I highly recommend both!

— Mercedes Cannon-Tran, Local Reporter

New England and Manhattan Clam Chowder – Bluewater Grill, Temecula

Bluewater Grill marked its 10th anniversary in Temecula last week. It estimates that it has sold about 300,000 pints of clam chowder during those years. I found out why. At $11, a cup of two-in-a-bowl makes a good starter or a satisfying meal in itself. 26700 Ynez Court, Temecula. bluewatergrill.com

— Fielding Buck, Restaurant Reporter

Neapolitan meatballs – Ospi, Costa Mesa

Opening to much fanfare in December, Ospi, founded by chef Jackson Kalb, who appeared on season 19 of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” and his business partner/wife, Melissa, has turned into quite the scene for Costa Mesa. Located inside the Paseo 17 complex (where Rye Goods will open this spring), I checked out the new Italian eatery during a busy weeknight. Among the (many) menu items, which lean heavily toward pastas and pizzas, the Neapolitan meatballs proved my stand-out favorite. The exceedingly tender beef and pork spheres are mixed with ricotta and pine nuts and come topped with tomato passata and grana padano cheese. Thick slices of toasted, olive oil-infused fettunta (Italian for “soaked slices”) join the party for an overall hearty dish that, while technically an antipasti, could double as a main entree.

— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter

• Also see: ‘Top Chef’ alum to open Southern Italian space in Costa Mesa

NOLA BBQ Gulf Shrimp & Grits – Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio, Anaheim

I’ve only had shrimp and grits a few times, and each has been a different flavor combo from the last, but the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney’s take on the meal has easily been one of my favorites. The New Orleans “BBQ Sauce” is what makes this dish. It is packed with flavor. Typically the dish comes with Andouille Sausage, but as a pescatarian, I opted without it.

— Carolyn Burt, Audience Engagement Producer

Calamansi creamsicle scoop – Stella Jean’s, Costa Mesa

I made a pit stop at Stella Jean’s Costa Mesa location to curb an ice cream fix I had one night. While the noted San Diego-based creamery offers a slew of creative ice cream flavors (salted maple, banana pudding, tiramisu crunch s’mores and ube + pandesal toffee, to name a few), the calamansi creamsicle caught my eye. Next to peanut butter and chocolate, citrus and cream is my top-tier flavor pairing when it comes to desserts. Calamansi, a small citrus fruit popular in Filipino cuisine, proved the perfect partner for Stella Jean’s vanilla. The fruit, which, if you will, sits somewhere between a lemon and a tangerine, was bright and punchy next to the smooth and rich vanilla. Another bonus: It’s vegan.

— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter

Regular Fries – Blue Dog Beer Tavern, Sherman Oaks

I am on a quest to find the best place to get “girl dinner” aka a Caesar salad and french fries combo. Given the fact that this is a beer tavern, I went in with low expectations for the food, but was pleasantly surprised by just how good the fries were. Also, if you aren’t familiar with Blue Dog Beer Tavern, it’s a dog-friendly restaurant that is decorated with pictures of canines who have visited.

The staff let me know that they had actually just swapped the recipe from frozen fries to fresh cut, and had actually been met with negative reviews from those who had been huge fans of the frozen fries. Listen, to each their own, but these fresh cut fries are where it’s at. They also offer garlic fries, sweet potato fries, shore fries (tossed in a house spice mix of Italian herbs and Old Bay seasoning), garlic parmesan fries and chili cheese fries.

— Carolyn Burt, Audience Engagement Producer

Lemon Chicken and Couscous – Moun of Tunis, Los Angeles

A delicious Moroccan experience. We opted for the Moroccan feast, which consisted of about 5 courses. From the fresh pita bread and hummus to the delectable Chicken cooked to perfection, our meal was memorable! Did we also mention you sit on cushions and there are belly dancers?

— Mercedes Cannon-Tran, Local Reporter

Peanut butter saltwater taffy – Candy Baron, Laguna Beach

Whenever I find myself in downtown Laguna Beach – in the wintertime to avoid the crush of tourists who have rendered the coastal enclave impenetrable during the summer months – I make a beeline to Candy Baron to grab a fistful of saltwater taffy. My go-to pick at the 30-year-old shop is its peanut butter taffy. Reminiscent of the taffy wrapped in black and orange paper, typically found during the Halloween hauls of my youth, these taffys come with a center filled with peanut butter joy. Fret not, allergy sufferers and peanut butter deniers: Candy Baron has literal barrels filled to the brim with saltwater taffy in a variety of flavors and hues, as well as hard-to-find Kit Kat bars, candies from afar and other treats for kids ages 1 to 100.

— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter

Doritos Nacho Cheese Texas Style Loaded Nachos – Doritos After Dark, Crypto.com Arena Downtown Los Angeles

Did I come to the Crypto.com Arena expecting to have my mind blown by nachos? Absolutely not. Was it? It easily became my entire personality for the night. All I could think about between acts was getting my hands on more Doritos Nachos.

@by.carolyn

Transparently I will be thinking about these Nachos until the next time I see a concert @Crypto.com Arena and can go to Doritos After Dark to be reunited with said nachos but also try the other menu items. #cryptoarena #doritos #doritosafterdark #nachos #food #foodie #doritosnachos @Doritos

♬ original sound – JP

Doritos After Dark is an exclusive restaurant inside the Crypto.com Arena where guests can try out their favorite foods with Doritos chips incorporated into the recipe. I was given an inside tip from their chef: part of what makes the nachos so good is that they’re able to use Frito Lays seasoning in the cheese sauce. The nachos use Doritos Nacho Cheese chips as the base and are topped with brisket (I opted without, but heard people raving about it), nacho cheese sauce, sliced dill pickles and sweet onions.

— Carolyn Burt, Audience Engagement Producer

• Also see: Here are the new dining offerings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles

See more of our monthly round-ups of the best things we ate in Southern California

The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in January

The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in 2024

The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in November

The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants this October

The best thing we ate at Southern California restaurants in September

The best thing we ate at Southern California restaurants in August

​ Orange County Register 

USC women’s basketball looks for repeat in UCLA rematch

• February 28, 2025

LOS ANGELES — The first game was more of an event than a game. The stands were packed, from newcomers to women’s basketball to those who have followed for years as well as family members.

Even a handful of celebrities were on hand to watch the then-No. 6 USC women’s basketball team knock off UCLA, then ranked No. 1 in the country, by 11 points. The noise inside USC’s Galen Center that night was deafening, but not loud enough to drown out the sound of the stakes in this crosstown rivalry being raised to the rafters.

The second matchup will be more game than event.

The final regular-season showdown at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night is expected to again bring out the fans and celebrities, having been sold out since Feb. 12. But there is so much more on the line this time than just another victory for either team, making this the biggest college basketball game in Los Angeles this season.

For starters, the second-ranked Bruins (28-1 overall, 16-1 Big Ten) want revenge. The No. 4 Trojans (26-2, 16-1) handed them their lone loss of the season, a 71-60 defeat that knocked them from the top spot in the rankings, and they want to finish the regular season on top.

The Big Ten Conference regular-season title will be decided by the outcome, with UCLA and USC holding down the top two spots and the winner getting the top seed for next week’s conference tournament in Indianapolis.

Then, not to be overlooked, are the city bragging rights in this longstanding rivalry.

“We have a plan and sticking to that is our primary thing to do here,” USC senior center Rayah Marshall said after Thursday’s practice.

“Obviously, UCLA is good. They haven’t lost a game at home and it’s for all the marbles here. So, we are looking to come into Pauley Pavilion and cause an upset.”

In the first meeting, Trojans star JuJu Watkins carried her team with 38 points and eight blocked shots, each swat sending the sold-out crowd into a frenzy and sparking a joy in her game that had diminished.

Looking back to the Feb. 13 game, the sophomore sensation said she needed to shrug off the heavy expectations she carries into each game to be able to lead her team.

“I think (now) just don’t take it that seriously, honestly. I mean, at the end of the day it’s a game,” Watkins said. “To me, it’s much more than that, but just realizing that it’s a game at the end of the day, just go out there, have fun.”

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said nothing Watkins does comes as a surprise anymore, especially the way she handles the fame that has come with her burgeoning success. Watkins is averaging 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in her second college season and has been featured in TV commercials and on billboards.

“Not only does she handle it with a lot of humility and grace, but then she also finds ways to raise her own bar on her own ceiling,” Gottlieb said. “She’s so committed to getting better. I don’t know that I’ve had a player ever just look inward (asking) what can I do to help make myself better and the team better.

“But she’s pretty remarkable in how she handles the craziness around her.”

The craziness will start again Saturday as the Trojans attempt to contain 6-foot-7 UCLA center Lauren Betts, who posted her 13th double-double of the season against USC, and junior guard Kiki Rice, who added 15 points and six assists in the loss.

“It’s an incredible spot to be in, to be in a championship game on the last day of the regular season and to be able to control our own destiny,” Gottlieb said. “We don’t have to wait and hope somebody else loses. It’s at our fingertips. And yet it’s a very hard task because UCLA is really good too. But it’s an incredible thing that I definitely don’t take for granted.”

No. 4 USC at No. 2 UCLA

When: Saturday, 6 p.m.

Where: Pauley Pavilion

TV: FOX (Ch. 11)

​ Orange County Register 

Volunteers use bullhorns and sirens to warn immigrants when ICE is in their area

• February 28, 2025

By DORANY PINEDA and ELLIOT SPAGAT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just before dawn, 10 people met at a parking lot shared by a laundromat and coffee shop in South Central Los Angeles on what has become a daily mission: Look for immigration officers and warn people of their presence to try to prevent arrests. Bullhorns and sirens are ready for use.

“There’s raza that’s been detained,” Ron Gochez, founder of Union del Barrio’s Los Angeles chapter, said before they split up in five cars. “It seems like there’s more activity now. Let’s keep a close eye out.”

Working with other similar-size groups and using walkie-talkies, the Community Self-Defense Coalition, made up of more than 60 organizations, found nothing Thursday but appeared to have disrupted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations earlier in the week. In Los Angeles and across the country, these tactics have been a thorn in ICE’s side as it tries to carry out President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations.

“Positive spotting right now of ICE agents at the Target in Alhambra,” Lupe Carrasco Cardona said in a live Instagram report Sunday from the Los Angeles suburb over a blaring siren to draw attention. She said at least six government vehicles were identified in the ICE operation.

Counter-ICE operations have had “a huge impact,” said John Fabbricatore, a former head of ICE’s enforcement and removal division in Denver.

“It’s dangerous for the officers because they are trying to get into a situation, maybe undercover, trying to make an arrest without alarming the neighborhood, and then these guys come out here with these bullhorns and they start yelling and screaming,” Fabbricatore said.

Advocates “go right to the edge” of a law against impeding federal law enforcement to avoid criminal prosecution, he said.

Advocates say they are exercising free speech and reminding people of their rights. ICE officers cannot forcibly enter a home without a judicial warrant, which they rarely have. Sophisticated “know-your- rights” campaigns urge people to stay inside and not open the door.

For years, including during Trump’s first administration, ICE has contended with advocates who rely on blast text messages, social media and bullhorns to spread the word.

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was visibly angry after joining ICE officers who were met at apartments in the Denver area by activists who insulted them and used bullhorns to alert residents. He insisted word of the operation was leaked.

“The less people know about these operations, the better,” Homan said outside the White House after the Denver operation resulted in fewer arrests than expected.

ICE referred questions to the Homeland Security Department, which did not respond to questions about the advocates’ tactics and any activities in Los Angeles this week. The agency stopped releasing daily arrest figures, but Homan said last week that it made about 21,000 arrests. That’s an average of more than 600 a day, roughly double what President Joe Biden’s administration did in a 12-month period ending Sept. 30.

In the Los Angeles area, about 150 volunteers fanned out Sunday in response to rumors of ICE operations. Organizers said they spotted ICE in Alhambra and San Fernando, preventing arrests.

Volunteers meet before dawn, as many workers are heading to their jobs and when advocates believe ICE is most likely to move in. They zigzag through quiet residential streets and sleepy intersections, looking for double-parked vehicles, tinted windows and newer cars parked in red zones.

If they spot ICE officers, they hit record on their phones. They blare sirens. And through a megaphone, they announce that ICE is in the neighborhood. “They’re here.”

“We don’t use violence. We don’t break any laws. But we will do anything legally possible to defend our community,” Gochez said.

Back at the parking lot about two hours after Thursday’s mission started, the city was waking up. On the corner, a street vendor had set up her tamales stand.

“We just got a report right now that all of our patrols happening in San Diego, Escondido, California; Los Angeles, California; South Gate and Alhambra, everything is all clear right now,” said Gochez, before heading to his day job as a high school history teacher.

Spagat reported from San Diego.

​ Orange County Register 

How Disneyland Paris uses airline-style dynamic pricing

• February 28, 2025

Disneyland Paris recently adopted a demand pricing model that rewards visitors who book early and punishes those who wait too long to buy tickets for the European theme park that often serves as a testing ground for other Disney resorts around the world.

Disneyland Paris moved to an airline-style dynamic pricing model for individual dates based on seasonality and demand in November.

“Under the new system, that price can change tomorrow, next week, next month or three days before you visit,” according to Blog Mickey. “If the date that you want to visit becomes more popular between today and the date you want to visit, the price can change at any point between now and when you ultimately purchase the ticket.”

The new Disneyland Paris pricing model goes by various names in the travel industry — demand, dynamic, surge, flexible and variable.

The new model mimics pricing strategies used by airlines, hotels and rideshare operators that raises prices when demand spikes and lowers them when demand decreases.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland closes 3 attractions during busy festival season

A review of the Disneyland Paris ticket calendar stretching over the next 12 months showed prices ranging from $57 to $152 for a one-day, one-park ticket.

The most expensive dates were Bastille Day ($107), Easter weekend ($120), Halloween ($147) and New Year’s Eve ($152).

The least expensive dates were in January ($57), November ($63), September ($71) and April ($72).

The new Disneyland Paris pricing model breaks tickets into six tiers:

• Tier 1: $57 to $63
• Tier 2: $64 to $72
• Tier 3: $73 to $82
• Tier 4: $83 to $95
• Tier 5: $96 to $101
• Tier 6: $102 to $152

The highest-priced tier had three times as many dates as the lowest-priced tier over the next 12 months.

Although Tier 6 had the widest price range, most tickets in the tier stayed between $102 and $120.

The new demand-pricing model at Disneyland Paris only gives ticket buyers an hour to make their purchase before prices may fluctuate — either increasing, decreasing or remaining unchanged.

ALSO SEE: Look inside Disneyland’s new Incredibles suite with spy gadgets and secret entrances

Disneyland Paris is currently the only Disney theme park resort in the world using the airline-style dynamic ticket pricing model.

“Previously we have seen other services introduced first at Disneyland Paris and then rolled out at Disneyland and Walt Disney World,” according to Mickey Visit. “That resort has served as a sort of testing ground for new products.”

A new financial analyst report says Disneyland and Walt Disney World are expected to move to airline-style dynamic ticket pricing strategy similar to the variable pricing model rolled out last year at Disneyland Paris.

New York City-based Lightshed Partners expects Disney theme parks in the United States to shift to a dynamic ticket pricing model in the next few weeks, according to an investment note published on Feb. 21

“Given the early success of Disneyland Paris’ pricing strategy shift, we expect Disney to announce it is moving to a similar airline-style, dynamic pricing plan in the U.S. later in Q1 2025,” according to the Lightshed report.

Disneyland and Walt Disney World have no immediate plans to move to a dynamic pricing model similar to Disneyland Paris.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland Grad Nite 2025 ticket prices increase up to 17%

The shift to dynamic ticket pricing could help increase attendance and visitor spending in the parks and encourage theme park visitors to buy their tickets further in advance, according to the Lightshed report.

“If a consumer is worried that prices will go up, they are likely to purchase their tickets sooner than they probably would have done in the past,” according to the Lightshed report.

Disneyland and Disney World moved from a flat-rate ticket model to tiered pricing in 2016.

The current ticket model requires Disney’s U.S. parks to announce upcoming price increases — typically on an annual basis.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland Magic Key reservations sold out for 70th anniversary celebration kickoff

A move to a dynamic-pricing model would mean Disneyland and Disney World would never have to publicly announce ticket price increases again — or endure the headlines that come with the annual price hikes.

“In the new fully dynamic, airline-style pricing plan, there is no ‘set’ price for a ticket on any given day,” according to the Lightshed report. “The only way to find out what a ticket costs is to try and buy one at that moment in time. In turn, you never have to publicly raise ticket pricing.”

​ Orange County Register