Joann store liquidation: The latest on sales, gift cards, closing date

• February 25, 2025

The fabric and craft retailer Joann, which had already announced the closure of hundreds of stores, this week said the chain will shut down completely.

Here’s what’s known about the liquidation process:

When will the stores close?

No date has been announced, and employees also apparently have not been told yet. On social media, staff members reported that the only information they received at an all-hands meeting Monday, Feb. 24, was a basic memo about the results of the bankruptcy auction the previous day.

The memo included the line: “Subject to court approval of the transaction [on Feb. 26], the winning bidders plan to wind down ongoing operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all JOANN locations.”

How deep are the discounts at the sales?

Shoppers on the first weekend of liquidation, Feb. 15-16, reported that everything was discounted 20% or more. Some items, such as Christmas merchandise, were discounted by as much as 60%.

Is fabric still being sold by the yard?

Yes, although long waits were reported for cutting. The minimum amount is 1 yard.

Are gift cards being honored?

Gift cards will be honored through Friday, Feb. 28, in stores. Already the cards are not being accepted online.

Are coupons being honored?

Though there were reports of some stores accepting coupons in the early days of the liquidation sale, the corporation’s instruction is that coupons — whether paper or on the app — will not be honored.

Can merchandise be ordered from Joann.com?

The website Joann.com is still operating, and orders will be shipped by mail. No in-store pickup is available for online orders.

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, an initial visit to the website prompted a pop-up coupon for 25% off the order plus free shipping. A subsequent visit didn’t get the coupon, and the minimum order for free shipping was $75.

Can merchandise be returned?

No. All sales, in store or online, are final.

​ Orange County Register 

Ex-Church of England leader faces potential disciplinary action over handling of abuse claims

• February 25, 2025

By SYLVIA HUI, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A former leader of the Church of England is among several members of the clergy facing potential disciplinary action over the way the institution handled sexual abuse allegations, church officials said Tuesday.

George Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, resigned as a priest in December after media reports that he allowed the Rev. David Tudor, who had been banned over sexual abuse claims, to return to the priesthood in the 1990s.

The church’s national safeguarding team said it is seeking to bring disciplinary proceedings against Carey and nine other clergy over failures in a separate abuse case that has renewed anger over a lack of accountability among senior church leaders.

In November, the church published a damning independent report concluding that serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps was known about and not acted upon by various people in the church.

The report said Carey had been informed of the serious physical and sexual abuse by the volunteer, prominent lawyer John Smyth, and that he had been sent a copy of a previous report into it, “but he denies seeing it.”

That inquiry also found that Justin Welby, the church’s former head and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, failed to tell police what he knew about the allegations against Smyth. Welby resigned last year.

Smyth, who is believed to have targeted more than 100 young boys and men over five decades, died in 2018 in Cape Town while he was under investigation by police.

Alexander Kubeyinje, the Church of England’s national director of safeguarding, said the church was “truly sorry” for the harm caused to survivors and victims of abuse by Smyth.

“We know this will never undo the harm caused, but the Church is committed to taking very seriously its response to the findings of the review as well as responding to its recommendations,” he said.

Andrew Graystone, an advocate for abuse survivors, criticized the time taken for justice to be served.

“It is shocking that it has taken this long for the church to even start the disciplinary process,” he said. “And because of the way the church’s disciplinary process works, there is every chance that the church lawyers will decide that too much time has elapsed for there to be a fair hearing.”

​ Orange County Register 

Bitcoin slides under $90,000, erasing some of the gains made under Trump

• February 25, 2025

By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

The price of bitcoin fell below $90,000 and other cryptocurrencies saw large drops Tuesday morning, erasing some of the gains digital assets have made since President Donald Trump took office on a pro-crypto agenda.

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, was trading at about $89,000 as the U.S. stock market opened. That’s down from about $106,000, which was the price around Trump’s inauguration. The decline in bitcoin and other crypto assets accelerated after a report showed a bigger-than-expected drop in consumer confidence for this month.

Cryptocurrency is highly volatile, and prices can change rapidly. Even with Tuesday’s drop, bitcoin is still up significantly since Trump won last year’s election. Supporters said the price drops represent a good investment opportunity.

“Buy the dips!!!” Eric Trump, the president’s son, said on the social media platform X. He replaced the letter B with the symbol for bitcoin.

It’s been a mixed bag for the cryptocurrency industry in recent weeks. The president and pro-crypto members of Congress have promised to usher in a golden age for the industry and pledged quick action to craft friendly regulations. And in recent weeks, regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission have signaled plans to drop enforcement actions against key industry players, like Coinbase and Robinhood.

But a large hack of a major cryptocurrency exchange — one of the biggest thefts of all time — and a major scandal involving the president of Argentina and a meme coin have highlighted some of the vulnerabilities in a relatively still nascent industry.

Last week the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced it was a victim of a sophisticated hack that stole about $1.5 billion worth of digital currency. A number of security researchers believe North Korea, which authorities have blamed for several other major crypto hacks, was behind the theft.

Argentine President Javier Milei is facing a corruption probe into his promotion of a meme coin, called LIBRA, whose price soared then quickly crashed after Milei posted about it on X. Milei has distanced himself from the meme coin and denied any wrongdoing.

Meme coins are a highly speculative form of cryptocurrency that are mostly minted as jokes and have no intrinsic value but can sometimes soar in price.

One of the crypto developers involved in the LIBRA coin said meme coins are essentially a rigged game that benefits a small group of people at the expense of retail investors in a recent interview with an independent journalist.

That developer, Hayden Davis, also revealed he was involved in the launch of First Lady Melania Trump’s meme coin just before her husband took office. The Melania meme coin was trading at about 90 cents on Tuesday, down from more than $13 when it first launched. The president also helped launch a meme coin just before he took office that’s seen a similar price trajectory.

Solana, a major cryptocurrency that’s a key player in the meme coin ecosystem, has seen its price roughly cut in half since Trump’s inauguration.

​ Orange County Register 

20 new garden plants to watch out for this year

• February 25, 2025

By Jessica Damiano | The Associated Press

Like most gardeners, I have favorite plants I’ve been growing for years and will continue to grow, like fragrant and tasty Big Boy tomatoes, wide Romano-type Italian flat beans, climbing zucchini and Queen Lime Mix zinnias.

But I also like to try new plants.

So, it’s helpful to know that each year, the independent, non-profit All-America Selections organization enlists more than 80 horticulture professionals from around the U.S. and in Canada to serve as plant-trial judges. They’re tasked with growing the new plants side-by-side with currently available varieties and comparing their performance, time to maturity, flower or fruit size, disease resistance and other characteristics important to home gardeners.

When the results are compiled, standout plants are named AAS winners for the following year, which coincides with their introduction to the market.

For 2025, 20 plants — seven edible and 13 ornamental – have been named national or regional winners.

Edibles

Basil Piedmont (Regional Winner: Great Lakes and Heartland)

Notable for its remarkable disease resistance, this new basil was also noted for “exceptional” downy mildew resistance, strong aroma, classic flavor and a “refined habit,” which gave it a longer shelf life after harvesting. The dense, bushy plant also was lauded for vigorous growth and health, even in challenging conditions. (Bred by Garden Genetics and Seeds by Design)

Cauliflower Murasaki Fioretto 70 F1 (National Winner)

Murasaki translates to “purple” in Japanese. So, yes, this long-stemmed cauliflower has bright purple florets, as well as long, tender stems. Early to mature and easy to harvest, the mild-flavored brassica would make a beautiful purple crudite. (It turns fuchsia in vinegar and golden brown when sauteed or roasted). (Bred by Tokita Seed America)

Kohlrabi Konstance F1 (National)

Judges found this purple kohlrabi grew well in both spring and fall and produced crack-resistant, long-lasting bulbs with smooth, vibrant skin. It also offers a longer harvest window than other varieties and tasty leaves. (Bred by Bejo Seeds)

Pepper Pick-N-Pop Yellow F1 (National)

These mid-size plants, noted for “outstanding” resistance to bacterial leaf spot disease, continually produced sweet, yellow, snack-size peppers throughout the growing season. (Bred by Seminis Home Garden)

Squash Green Lightning F1 (National)

Appreciated for its small seed cavity, which equates to a higher proportion of edible flesh from each fruit, Green Lightning lived up to its name in the trials, impressing judges with its early maturity. Further, one judge noted, “This entry not only looked better but also tasted better than the comparison. The color and pattern of the squash was novel and cute-pretty enough to use as a decoration. When cooked, this squash had a nice robust flavor that stood up to added seasonings.” (Bred by Joseph Stern; marketed by PanAmerican Seed)

Squash Thriller F1 (National)

Judges found this color-shifting squash unique, well-adapted and easy to grow. The plants produce 1-to-2-pound fruits with bright orange-, green- and cream-ridged vertical stripes that shift color as they mature. (Bred by Sakata America)

Tomato Tonatico F1 (Mountain/Southwest, Northeast)

Judges were impressed with the taste, texture, yield, disease resistance and reduced fruit cracking and splitting of this upgraded cherry tomato. Tonatico also was lauded for its strongly attached, uniform fruit clusters that detach easily at harvest time. (Bred by Bejo USA)

Ornamentals

Celosia Flamma Pink (National)

Pink, the latest introduction in the Flamma Celosia series, is a semi-dwarf, easy-to-grow pink variety of celosia noted for exceptional blooming and vibrant, long-lasting upright flowers. Judges commended its vigorous performance even in hot and humid weather, and its longer-than-expected vase life as a cut flower. (Bred by Clover Seed Co., Distributed in North America by Sakata Seed Corp.)

Vinca Sphere Polkadot (National)

Judges called this vigorously blooming vinca variety resilient and beautiful. With a naturally compact, rounded habit, the plant blooms throughout the summer, thriving in hot, dry conditions and boasting superior disease resistance and durability against heavy rain and storms. (Bred by Miyoshi & Co. Ltd.)

Zinnia Crestar Mix (National)

Crestar Mix combines “the best” crested — or Scabiosa-type — zinnias in one seed pack. The distinctive semi-double, pink, orange, red, white, peach and yellow flower blend works well for mass plantings and succession sowing, providing a continuous supply of cut flowers during summer. The sun-loving plants also tolerated heat and humidity well in the trials. (Bred by Takii Europe)

Dahlia Black Forest Ruby (National)

Featuring a range of semi-double to double ruby-red flowers against a black-foliage backdrop, the sturdy, disease-resistant plant impressed judges on two continents with its overall durability, as it also received the Fleuroselect award for superior performance in European trials. (Bred by Takii Europe B.V.)

Dianthus Interspecific Capitán Magnifica (National)

This new dianthus thrived through the test gardens’ summer heat. Its two-toned pink flowers, held on long stems, are suitable for bouquets in cut-and-come-again fashion, and a quick shearing after its first bloom will encourage a vigorous comeback. (Bred by Selecta One)

Marigold Mango Tango (National)

This marigold boasts bi-color, yellow-and-red blooms on compact, vigorous plants that provide nonstop color over an extended season. The variety, which also won the Fleuroselect award for performance in European trials, is well-suited for both borders and containers. (Bred by Ernst Benary of America, Inc.)

Nasturtium Baby Gold, Nasturtium Baby Red and Nasturtium Baby Yellow (Heartland, Mountain/Southwest, Northeast)

Also recipients of the Fleuroselect award for performance in European trials, these new entries in the Baby series of petite, mounded nasturtiums produce golden-yellow, rich red and soft yellow flowers that contrast nicely with their dark-green leaves. The judges praised their uniformly compact habit, which reduces flopping, and intense, non-fading flower color. (Bred by Takii Europe BV)

Petunia Dekko Maxx Pink (Great Lakes, Heartland, Northeast, West/Northwest)

This slow-maintenance petunia’s fast-growing, compact, spreading habit and abundance of non-fading pink blooms impressed judges during summer trials. Flowers blanketed plants throughout the season and held up well against heavy rain and harsh weather. (Bred by Syngenta Flowers)

Petunia Shake Raspberry F1 (National)

Likened to “a blended raspberry milkshake swirled with lemon-lime green sorbet on a superior-performing petunia,” this compact plant impressed with its heat resistance and season-long color. (Bred by Hem Genetics BV)

Snapdragon DoubleShot Yellow Red Heart F1 (National)

This candy-scented snapdragon bloomed earlier than comparable varieties in the trials. Trial judges noted its healthy, vigorous growth, long-lasting flowers, and exceptional heat tolerance. (Bred by Hems Genetics)

Zinnia Zydeco Fire (National)

This vibrant, disease-resistant zinnia variety boasts firey orange, fully double blooms held atop sturdy stems. Judges found its flowers to be larger and more resilient than those of comparison plants. (Bred by Syngenta Flowers)

___

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

​ Orange County Register 

Recipe: Whipped Ricotta works as a versatile topping or appetizer

• February 25, 2025

I love recipes that multitask, formulas that create dishes that can be used in a variety of ways. This Whipped Ricotta fills that bill. It can function as a delicious appetizer paired with burst cherry tomatoes and crostini. It also is delicious served as a topping over roasted vegetables, especially asparagus, mushrooms, or cauliflower. Or it’s scrumptious judiciously spooned over scrambled eggs.

The mix comes together quickly. Ricotta and Parmesan whirl in a food processor until the mix resembles whipped cream, with small amounts of milk or cream added to reach an alluring consistency. If using as an appetizer or first course, the mix is spread out into an 8-inch round and topped with burst tomatoes; those beauties are tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano on a rimmed baking sheet and then roasted in a hot oven until they wrinkle and just start to burst. Lemon juice, basil leaves, and a drizzle of olive oil come to the party just before serving.

Whipped Ricotta with Burst Tomatoes

Yield: 4 as an appetizer or starter

INGREDIENTS

1 cup full-fat ricotta, room temperature

1/2 cup tightly packed finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 to 3 tablespoons milk or cream, if required, see cook’s notes

Burst tomatoes:

1 1/4 pound cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

To finish: 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, plus extra if needed

12 to 15 small fresh basil leaves

For serving: Crostini

Cook’s notes: Cookbook author Nagi Maehashi (“Delicious Tonight”) advises to use a ricotta bought at a delicatessen (or natural food store) or the type that is sold in baskets that are vacuum packed. I often use a full-fat ricotta sold in a plastic tub at the supermarket, one that Maehashi doesn’t recommend due to its lack of creaminess. She says to use milk. I make up for the lack of creaminess by using heavy whipping cream instead of milk.

DIRECTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place ricotta and Parmesan in food processor (or a bowl if using a hand-held electric beater). Beat until smooth. The mix should look like whipped cream. If it is too stiff, dilute it with 1 teaspoon milk (or cream) at a time, beating to combine. Repeat until desired whipped cream-like consistency.

2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Spread tomatoes into a single layer. Roast in preheated oven until skin starts to wrinkle, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and leave tomatoes on the pan. Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

3. Dollop the whipped ricotta in the center of the serving plate and smear it out into an 8-inch circle, pushing most of it to the outer edge of the circle. Scatter tomatoes on top, then pour the pan juices on top. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice, then scatter with basil leaves. Accompany with crostini. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from “Delicious Tonight” by Nagi Maehashi (Countryman Press)

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at CathyThomasCooks.com.

​ Orange County Register 

What to know about air traffic control towers after a midair collision in Arizona prompts questions

• February 25, 2025

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press

Tens of thousands of planes take off, land and perform touch-and-goes at the Marana Regional Airport in southern Arizona every year. Without an air traffic control tower, it’s a calculated dance that requires communication by pilots.

Two small planes collided in midair over one of the runways on the outskirts of Tucson last week. One hit the ground and caught fire, sending up a plume of black smoke. The remains of two people were found in the charred wreckage. The other plane was able to land, with those occupants uninjured.

The collision was the latest aviation mishap to draw attention in recent weeks. The circumstances vary widely with each case, however, and experts who study aviation accidents say they don’t see any connection between them.

Chatter over the airwaves has provided some clues about what happened in Arizona. A chief flight instructor who was in the air with a student that day heard the commotion over the radio: One plane was attempting a touch-and-go when another clipped its propeller while attempting to land.

Erwin Castillo, who works for IFLY Pilot Training, recalled hearing one pilot scream: “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! He just hit us.”

It will be up to federal investigators to determine what caused the crash, a detailed process that will take months.

While some observers suggest having a control tower may have made a difference, experts say not having a tower doesn’t mean the airport is any less safe; pilots just have a different set of communication procedures to follow.

How many airports in the US have control towers?

Of the 5,100 public airports across the country, only about 10% have towers staffed by people who direct the flow of traffic. These are the busiest of airports, with complex operations and large volumes of commercial flights.

For the airports without control towers, pilots rely on radio communications and the principle of “see and avoid” to ensure they can maneuver safely. The concept is drilled into pilots from Day 1 of their training and it’s applicable regardless of the kind of airspace they’re in, said Mike Ginter, a retired Navy aviator and senior vice president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute.

He likened it to being behind the wheel of a car and practicing all the safety rules learned in driver’s ed.

“You don’t have to tell the state police that you’re getting ready to drive to the supermarket to get groceries. You just go out, and you look both ways before you turn, and you turn on your turn signal and you drive,” he explained, saying there are basic tenets of safety that are ingrained in pilots.

The system has worked well, considering the sheer number of planes coming and going daily from small airports and the roughly 26 million hours of flight time logged by general aviation pilots.

What prompted regulation of the friendly skies?

It was a summer day in 1956 when two commercial flights left Los Angeles within minutes of each other — one en route to Chicago and the other to Kansas. Flying under visual flight rules, the planes collided over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing all 128 people aboard. The crash site is now a National Historic Landmark.

Even though U.S. air traffic had more than doubled since the end of World War II, it was this disaster that helped to fuel efforts to overhaul aviation safety.

Legislation was introduced in 1958 to create an independent federal agency that would provide for the safe and efficient use of national airspace. The bill was signed within months and the first Federal Aviation Agency administrator was appointed.

Responsibilities evolved, and the agency became the Federal Aviation Administration as air traffic control systems were being modernized.

Are new control towers being planned?

Through the FAA, airports can apply for federal grants to modernize and build air traffic control towers that are staffed by private companies and contract workers, rather than FAA staff.

Nearly 180 airports nationwide are eligible for funding under the program, with most looking to upgrade existing towers — some that date back to the 1940s and others that were meant to be temporary.

A review of funding awarded through the program over the past four fiscal year shows a handful of airports were awarded money specifically for site studies, environmental work and construction of new towers. That includes airports in Bend, Oregon; Boulder City, Nevada; and Mankato, Minnesota.

In the case of Marana, the airport was first accepted into the program in 2019 but the coronavirus pandemic stalled efforts to get a tower built by the five-year deadline. Airport officials have said they now are on track to complete the project by 2029.

Will federal job cuts affect air traffic safety?

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a memo in late January to top transportation officials, ordering an immediate assessment of aviation safety following the midair collision of an Army helicopter and commercial passenger jet over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Sixty-seven people were killed.

Trump raised questions about hiring practices within the FAA, suggesting previous Democratic administrations had shifted away from merit-based hiring.

Some FAA jobs have been eliminated as Trump streamlines the federal workforce and looks to ferret out waste and curb spending, but less than 1% of the agency’s more than 45,000 workers were probationary employees targeted as part of the job cuts, federal officials have said.

In addition, the administration has said no air traffic controllers or critical safety personnel were fired as part of the effort. But labor and industry groups say even without cuts, air traffic control towers were already understaffed.

Trump has said that he would support legislation aimed at modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system. In a letter sent to members of Congress last week, the industry group Airlines for America pushed for emergency funding for critical air traffic control technology and infrastructure as well as air controller staffing and training.

Associated Press writer Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

How one startup wants to bring an innovative solution to the plastic bag problem

• February 25, 2025

Six years ago, Julia Marsh gathered with friends in the kitchen of her small Brooklyn apartment. She’d ordered some flour-like powder derived from seaweed off the internet, and — after watching tutorial videos on YouTube — she needed help with the baking required to turn it into an environmentally-friendly, compostable plastic.

“Early on, it was purely experimental,” said Marsh. “Let’s just see what we can make.”

As she smeared a sweet-smelling goo onto baking sheets, Marsh, then a design student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, deliberated about what temperature to set the oven. Several trials later, her first bioplastic prototypes were born.

“They were ugly,” she said, and only “kind of resembled” plastic. But these early experiments gave the Monterey Bay native the confidence to fight against the torrent of single-use plastics threatening the oceans she grew up playing beside.

In 2020, Marsh co-founded Sway, a San Leandro startup that aims to replace conventional plastic packaging, made from petroleum products, with a green alternative. This year, Sway and four fashion brands will launch their first fully compostable seaweed-based “polybags” — the clear plastic packaging that protects new garments during delivery.

Conventional polybags are an environmental nightmare, breaking down into microscopic pieces, entering waterways and even our food.

According to the UN Environment Programme, nearly 11 metric tons of plastic enter the oceans each year. These discarded plastics are killing marine animals including turtles, fish and seabirds, who can die from entanglement or from eating plastics.

“A lot of animals are eating our trash,” said Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, a plastic pollution research nonprofit based in Santa Monica.

Marsh sees this pollution as an affront to her upbringing on the Northern California coast. “When we would go down to the beach, my dad would say, ‘Never turn your back on the ocean,’” she said, recalling his safety tips. “But I like it as a metaphor. We need to be turning toward the ocean and paying attention to this great power that makes up the majority of this planet.”

For garment makers trying to be green, finding an alternative to conventional plastics is a priority. Alex Crane — a company making clothing out of renewable materials including fibers from banana trees and coconuts — is one of the four brands in the Sway Innovation Coalition.

“It’s always weird when you see companies preach sustainability and then the product comes in a plastic bag,” said Aaron Smith, the company’s chief operating officer. “It feels like one step forward and two steps back.”

Another early adopter is Florence, the outdoor gear company founded by three-time world surfing champion John John Florence.

“He practically lives in the ocean,” said Bruce Moore, director of innovation and sustainability at Florence. “He sees pollution firsthand and wants to do something about it.”

There are many plastic alternatives on the market, but not all are compostable within a short time. These “green” products live in a gray area, requiring intensive industrial composting to be completely broken down.

Tests run by Cold Creek Compost in Ukiah showed that Sway’s bags were nearly completely broken down after 60 days. The company is now seeking certification that its products can be broken down in a backyard composter together with food scraps and garden waste.

While investigating a material to use to make green plastics, Marsh researched crops like corn and sugarcane, before deciding on an alternative that resonated with her Monterey Bay upbringing.

As the daughters of a florist and a fisherman, Marsh and her sister would, as children, adorn sand mermaids with seaweed hair and use washed-up kelp as jump ropes.

“It was familiar to me. And then it became an obsession,” Marsh said.

In 2018, shortly after the early experiments in her Brooklyn kitchen, that obsession led Marsh and her partner Matthew Mayes, co-founder of Sway, to Indonesia, one of the largest producers of seaweed in the world. After wading out into the turquoise blue waters at a seaweed farm, Marsh was amazed by how quickly the crop grew. “The farmer would give it a haircut and two weeks later it would regenerate,” Marsh said. Unlike conventional crops, this type of aquaculture requires no fresh water, pesticides or arable land. Farmers simply reel out lines embedded with seaweed spores and let the algae flourish.

Farmed seaweed also creates an underwater sanctuary for fish and invertebrates to shelter in and raise their young. And because the seaweed is trimmed rather than being harvested in full, that ecosystem stays in place.

Today, Sway’s seaweed comes from farms in Asia, North and South America, East Africa and Europe. So far, Sway has only sourced from Maine and Alaska in the United States. Marsh wishes she could incorporate local seaweed into her products, but there are no commercial seaweed farms in California.

Catherine O’Hare, the company’s seaweed sourcing specialist, is working on a scorecard to ensure that suppliers meet Sway’s ethical standards. She will evaluate the social and environmental impacts of each new partner, such as their ability to provide fair wages and track ecosystem health.

The launch of Sway’s compostable garment bags is a start, but with the fashion industry still using billions of conventional polybags each year, Marsh is well aware of the magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead.

“Plastic production is only increasing. It’s not going down yet,” she said. “I’d rather know that this work is pointing us in the right direction. I firmly believe in a future where seaweed will become a mainstream part of people’s daily lives.”

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County girls athlete of the week: Ava de Leest, Troy

• February 25, 2025

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The Orange County girls athlete of the week:

Name: Ava de Leest

School: Troy

Sport: Soccer

Year: Senior

Noteworthy: The Boise State-bound goalie blocked a penalty kick in the 70th minute and made four stops in a penalty shootout to help Troy defeat No. 4 seed Los Alamitos in a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal match that was scoreless after regulation and overtime. In a victory against Westlake in the semifinals, de Leest recorded two saves in a penalty shootout as the Warriors again won after a scoreless regulation and overtime.

Send nominees for girls athlete of the week to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X or Instagram

​ Orange County Register