5 questions with the chancellor of Rancho Santiago Community College District

• September 24, 2024

Marvin Martinez is the chancellor of Rancho Santiago Community College District, which serves Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College. The Register sat down with him to learn about his vision for the district.

To what do you attribute the growth of RSCCD, which has become the number one district in California for adult and continuing education, serving over 106,000 students last year?

RSCCD’s growth results from our relentless focus on providing high-quality, accessible education tailored to the needs of our community. Becoming the number one district in California for Adult and Continuing Education FTES with only two colleges directly reflects the hard work of our faculty, staff and administrators. We’ve grown by serving over 106,000 students, including 25,000 additional individuals we reached during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our growth is not just about numbers — it’s about transforming lives, creating opportunities and ensuring our students thrive in an ever-evolving economy. The success of our students is our success, and this growth speaks to our community’s trust in RSCCD.

How has the increase in students impacted resources and facilities?

The significant increase in enrollment, now exceeding 106,000 students, has pushed our facilities to their limits. Both Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are operating at full capacity, and our infrastructure is struggling to meet the demands of this growth. Many of our buildings are aging, and our technology needs upgrades to keep pace with modern educational standards. Overcrowding in classrooms, outdated computer systems, and limited lab space are just some of the challenges we face. While this growth is a positive reflection of our impact, it also highlights the urgent need to expand and update our facilities to ensure that every student has access to the learning environments they deserve.

How is RSCCD preparing for the demographic shift in Orange County, where 50% of the population will be 40 or over by 2032, while continuing to serve traditional students?

We are proactively preparing for this demographic shift by expanding programs serving traditional and nontraditional students. As the population ages, there will be a growing need for educational opportunities tailored to mid-career professionals and older adults looking to reskill or advance in their careers. At the same time, we continue to support younger, traditional students by offering programs that prepare them for the workforce or further education. Our bachelor’s degree programs in Occupational Studies, Paralegal Studies and Automotive Technology are examples of how we’re addressing the needs of a diverse student body and ensuring that all students are prepared for success in a changing economy.

 What is RSCCD doing to address the needs of veterans and first responders?

RSCCD is deeply committed to supporting veterans and first responders. We have established Veterans Resource Centers at our colleges to provide these individuals with the specialized services they need to transition into civilian careers, including academic advising, mental health counseling and job placement services. We also offer training programs tailored to the needs of first responders, such as law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical services. With Measure G (which would provide locally-controlled funding to complete upgrades to aging schools), we will be able to invest in even better facilities and resources, ensuring veterans and first responders continue to receive top-tier training and support in their educational journeys.

What could RSCCD do if it had more resources?

With additional resources, RSCCD could significantly enhance our educational offerings and facilities. We would renovate aging buildings, improve accessibility for disabled students and relieve overcrowded classrooms by constructing new facilities. Furthermore, we could expand our programs to better prepare students for high-wage, high-demand careers in fields like health care, cybersecurity and green technologies. Investing in these upgrades would directly impact the quality of education we provide, ensuring that our students are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow and that our community benefits from a stronger, more educated workforce. Measure G is not just an investment in our colleges; it’s an investment in the future prosperity of our entire community.

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​ Orange County Register 

Are more people displaying disabled parking placards or license plates, what’s changed?

• September 24, 2024

Q: Renee Chapman of Murrieta said she and her husband have noticed as they drive around Murrieta, Menifee and Temecula that there are an unusually high number of drivers with disabled license plates or placards on their vehicles – and they’re not senior citizens. She said these drivers are younger people in luxury cars, new cars, large customized trucks and muscle cars. Chapman said they drive aggressively, speed, fail to yield, and “demonstrate all manner of poor driving habits.”

“What has changed?” she asked. “What am I missing? Is it really so easy to qualify as a disabled person now and get one of those plates or placards? Are we simply living in an area with a lot of disabled persons (who are terrible drivers), or is there something else at play here?”

A: The requirements to qualify for a disabled driver license plate or parking placard have not changed. It’s possible people are committing fraud.

“The abuse of disabled person parking placards in California is a concern to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. It is important to point out that not all disabilities are visible and the individual assigned the placard is required to carry an accompanying registration card with them to prove they are legally authorized to use the placard,” DMV spokesperson Ronald Ongtoaboc said.

The requirements to apply for a placard have not changed, he said. A driver must submit a Disabled Person Parking Placard Form Application, which includes having a licensed physician, surgeon, chiropractor, optometrist, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or certified nurse midwife complete and sign the Medical Provider’s Certification of Disability section of the application.

It’s illegal to lend your placard to someone else, forge a medical professional’s signature to get a disabled driver’s placard, use someone else’s placard, have a counterfeit placard or license plates, lie to obtain a placard or license plates, or to alter a placard or the registration card.

The DMV tries to cut down on fraud but it’s fairly widespread. In December 2022, the DMV sent renewal letters to more than 2 million disabled drivers who needed to provide a signature to renew their placards by June 30, 2023, to comply with a new state law which requires placard holders who have had their placard for six years or longer to return a signed renewal notice to the DMV to remain eligible. Longtime placard holders no longer automatically receive new placards in the mail every two years.

The DMV said last year there were over 2.3 million active disabled placards statewide after the department cracked down on fraudulent activity by invoking the new renewal law; almost 350,000 placards (or about 15%) were not renewed.

The DMV works with local governments and police to reduce fraudulent use of the placards through enforcement measures, public awareness campaigns and technology to verify the legitimacy of parking permits, but many cheaters are not caught.

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“While the DMV doesn’t have an estimate of how many people have fraudulently used a disabled parking placard or license, in 2024 the DMV’s Investigations Division has conducted numerous DPP enforcement operations, resulting in approximately 1,100 cases being investigated for fraud or misuse,” Ongtoaboc said.

You can report suspected fraud through an online complaint form or by contacting a local DMV Investigations office. Reports may be submitted anonymously. You can also call the non-emergency phone number of your local police department to report suspected fraud.

Do you commute to work in the Inland Empire? Spend a lot of time in your vehicle? Have questions about driving, freeways, toll roads or parking? If so, write or call On the Road and we’ll try to answer your questions. Please include your question or issue, name, city of residence, phone number and email address. Write [email protected] or call us at our new phone number, 951-368-9995.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump wants to lure foreign companies by offering them access to federal land

• September 24, 2024

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Donald Trump is expected on Tuesday to pledge not only to stop U.S. businesses from offshoring jobs, but also to take other countries’ jobs and factories.

Among the ideas he is planning to pitch is luring foreign companies to the U.S. by offering them access to federal land. He teased the plan earlier this month when he proposed a cut to the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the U.S.

His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, wants to raise it to 28%. The corporate rate had been 35% when he became president in 2017, and he later signed a bill lowering it.

Trump has pressed Harris on the economy and proposed using tariffs on imports and other measures to boost American industry, even as economists warn U.S. consumers would bear the costs of tariffs and other Trump proposals like staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.

Members of the crowd dance as they wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to begin speaking during a campaign rally at Ed Fry Arena in Indiana, Pa., Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

Up until now, Trump has mostly framed his economic approach with measures to punish companies that take their businesses offshore. But on Tuesday, he is set to reveal incentives for foreign firms to leave other countries and migrate to the U.S. The former president wants to personally recruit foreign companies and to send members of administration to do the same.

A senior Trump adviser shared advance excerpts of Trump’s speech, which the former president could still change.

It is unclear whether foreign companies would be attracted by some of these incentives he says he will adopt if elected to the White House. The former president also had a spotty record in the White House of attracting foreign investment. For example, Trump promised a $10 billion investment by Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn in Wisconsin, creating potentially 13,000 new jobs, that the company never delivered.

It’s also not clear how possible it is for a president to offer these perks to foreign corporations. The Bureau of Land Management has restrictions on foreign entities looking to lease lands. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry Monday night about whether companies from China would be excluded, given his longtime accusations that China is hurting American business.

The Republican presidential nominee is set to discuss his plan in Savannah, Georgia, which has one of the busiest ports in the country for cargo shipped in containers.

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It is Trump’s first visit in this battleground state stop since a feud between the former president and the Republican Gov. Brian Kemp came to an end last month with the popular Georgia governor finally endorsing Trump.

Some Republicans have said they fear Georgia has gotten more politically competitive in the two months since Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential bid after President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection efforts. Harris gave a speech in Atlanta last Friday, calling Trump a threat to women’s freedoms and warning voters he would continue to limit access to abortion if elected president.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance is holding a rally later this week in Georgia as well as paying a visit to Macon.

Before Trump’s remarks, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told the crowd that the former president is a “successful businessman that gave us the best four years of our life.” Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones assailed Harris for calling Trump a threat to democracy, saying that she secured the Democratic nomination with delegate votes, and not through a primary process.

Jones served as a fake elector and signed on to the “unofficial electorate certificate” falsely claiming that Trump won the 2020 election he actually lost to Biden. A special prosecutor, however, declined to move forward with criminal charges against Jones in the matter.

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Indiana, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Australian gelato brand to open two OC locations this fall

• September 24, 2024

Another day, another ice cream purveyor has the scoop on fun flavors to cool down Orange County.

On the heels of Wanderlust Creamery and Filo Dessert Co. — two ice cream shops that recently opened in Costa Mesa and Old Towne Orange, respectively — Australia-based Gelatissimo will launch two of its gelato stores in Orange County as part of its foray into Southern California.

Gelatissimo will open its first O.C. shop on Oct. 19 on Balboa Island, followed by a second location in Irvine’s University Center on Nov. 12.

“Gelatissimo has been eyeing the Orange County area as a dream destination for years,” said CEO Braeden Lord in a written release. “It was a natural choice thanks to its beach culture, warm climate, family demographic, youthful vibrance and domestic and international tourism.”

SEE ALSO: Filo Dessert Co. brings Middle Eastern ice cream and knafeh to Old Towne Orange

Husband-wife team Rey and Sarah Maninang (Sarah’s family owned U.K.-based ice cream outfit Thayers) will own and operate the two O.C.-based franchises.

Orange County residents Rey and Sarah Maninang, pictured here in front of their Balboa Island shop, will own and operate both OC Gelatissimo locations. (Photo courtesy of Gelatissimo)

“There was a lot of synergy: my wife’s family owned the number-one ice cream brand in the UK for years, so she’s an expert in the field of frozen desserts and we were looking for a formula-based business with a proven track record of success, so Gelatissimo fits the bill,” said Rey Maninang in the same release.

Gelato flavors at Gelatissimo include mango sorbet, chunky New York cheesecake, wicked double choc brownie, decadent cookie dough (with hunks of cookie dough and caramel-fudge swirls), choc-honeycomb, a green apple sorbet and more. The gelatos, which come in vibrant hues like blue and magenta, also make decent foodie fodder on social media; more than 51,000 photos are tagged #gelatissimo on Instagram.

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According to the company, the gelatos are made fresh in-store daily.

Gelatissimo, founded by brothers Domenico and Marco Lopresti, opened its first location in 2002 in Sydney, Australia. Since then, the company has grown to more than 65 locations globally. In addition to Houston, Hawaii and the two upcoming Orange County locations, an Arkansas Gelatissimo will open by year’s end.

The gelato company recently swept first-, second- and third-place categories at the World Dairy Championships (i.e., the frozen dessert Olympics) with its chocolate, boysenberry and hazelnut gelatos, correspondingly.

Find them: 304 Marine Ave, Newport Beach; 4237 Campus Dr, Irvine

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County girls athlete of the week: Westley Matavao, Mater Dei

• September 24, 2024

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

The Orange County girls athlete of the week:

Name: Westley Matavao

School: Mater Dei

Sport: Volleyball

Year: Sophomore

Noteworthy: The 6-foot outside hitter earned MVP at the Durango Fall Classic after recording 12 kills and 13 digs in a 25-18, 24-26, 28-26 victory against Marymount in the finals in Las Vegas. Matavao collected a season-high 24 kills in a five-set win against Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas in a nonleague match prior to the tournament.

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

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​ Orange County Register 

Review: ‘Waitress’ serves up a heaping helping of top-notch theater in La Mirada

• September 24, 2024

“Sugar, butter, flour.”

At  La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts now, this soothingly murmured mantra might be a dietician’s nightmare, but it keeps a troubled pie-baker extraordinaire sane and sure helps turn an audience giddy.

“Waitress,” a hit Broadway musical in 2016, is well revived here at a regional theater level of engagement. In fact, the engaging production and its spot-on cast wouldn’t be out of place in midtown Manhattan.

The surety of this staging stems from the production’s director, Abbey O’Brien, who was part of the original show’s creative staff as an assistant choreographer.

The musical’s cross-country transfer from its spring mounting at Maine’s Ogunquit Playhouse is a fine one, as O’Brien propels a well-paced, fluid swirl of scenes buoying the comedy with its darker thematic underpinning.

Swirling along, thanks to a six-member band neatly slotted away on a back corner of the stage, the musical’s baked-in strength is songwriter Sara Bareilles’ beguiling score.

Impactful tunes, ranging from catchy, upbeat pop and jazz rhythms that propel ensemble scenes, to heartfelt, introspective ballads digging deeper into individual character’s emotional tugs and pulls, are an ideal tutorial for Musical-Making 101.

The central character is Jenna (impeccably inhabited by Desi Oakley). Jenna waitresses to make ends meet but she exists to create wonderful pies with fanciful names reflecting her moods and situations of the moment.

Jenna learned her baking and naming skills from her mother in a happy refuge — the kitchen — of a larger, unhappier space — marriage to an abusive husband and father.

Like mother, like daughter has extended beyond baking, though, with adult Jenna now in the menacing grip of an intolerable husband and newly finding herself pregnant.

Her early plot trajectory is mentally signposted by Jenna’s creation of “My Husband Is a Jerk Chicken Pot Pie,”  “Pregnant Miserable Loser Self-Pitying Pie” and “I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong And Earl Will Kill Me Pie.”

The self-knowing scrutiny and laconic humor in these titles reflects Jenna’s states of being. Oakley, reprising the role from originating it for the U.S. tour and starring in London, has excellent comedic timing with an almost Zen-like assuredness at handling the fun and the not.

Equally important, as a singer with a fine voice, she is an acting vocalist who reveals the dimensionality of the inner life of a woman leading an unremarkable life by virtually reporting her inner emotions in the process of singing about them.

This trait is on display during Bareilles’ cathartic and beautiful warhorse confessional number “She Used to Be Mine.”

The diner workspace provides Jenna with two sidekick waitresses, a persnickety employer and, overall, a flavorful, if immediately identifiable, array of comic personas.

There is non-stop wisecracking, amusing subplots — mostly stemming from romantic foibles that play out amusingly if predictably — and an upbeat, cloistered environment for duets, trios and cast numbers.

There are notable performances to relish.

Dominique Kent is an engaging presence as Becky, another waitress with her own set of complaints and issues. These are articulated by Kent with well-timed knowing pauses and a fair dollop of verbal sass.

The show’s villain could be just a one-note heel, but as Jenna’s unappealing husband Earl, actor Brian Krinsky, deftly pokes and prods within to show the neuroses driving the martial psychosis. Our understanding doesn’t make us like the creep, but Krinsky’s lanky physicality is not just imposing, but warily self-obsessed.

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Review: ‘The Little Mermaid’ soars above the deep in La Mirada

Late in the first act is the comic showstopper “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me.” This is sung by the socially awkward character Ogie. Extremely energized by talented comic actor Jared Gertner, it’s safe to say this guy is no humble pie for bringing the house down in a number designed and choreographed to do exactly that.

As pie shop owner Joe, Cleavant Derricks brings a Tony award — from the long ago “Dreamgirls” — to his querulous rendering of may be the most consequential figure in the play to ultimately have Jenna’s back.

Usually, it’s a waitress who gets a tip, but in this case it’s for readers: This production is worth your while.

‘Waitress’

Rating: 3 ½  stars (of a possible 4)

Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada.

When: Through Oct. 13. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $12.10-$93.50

Information: 714-994-6310; lamiradatheatre.com

​ Orange County Register 

Union Station’s next stop is a free salsa dance party

• September 24, 2024

Union Station will be the main stop for fans of salsa music with an evening of live music and dance lessons all for free during “Metro Art Presents: Salsa Night at Union Station,” which happens from 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at the station’s Ticket Concourse.

The night at the historic station will be headlined by La Verdad, an ensemble led by award-winning singer-songwriter Gabriel Gonzalez. The group will perform a mix of traditional and original music spanning from salsa to cha-cha to boogaloo to cumbia to Latin soul and more. Gonzalez is a multi-talented artist whose career spans film, music and theater. He has toured with artists such as Bruno Mars, Juan Gabriel, Los Van Van, and Anderson .Paak. Also on the bill is DJ Tosstones Aponte, a Grammy-nominated musician and producer who blends genres like salsa, hip-hop, afrobeats and jazz in his music.

But what if you can’t dance?

No worries Union Station has that covered too because the night will start with free salsa lessons for dancers of all levels. And get there early too because the first 40 visitors who show their TAP card to the Metro Art info table will receive a free copy of the book “Los Angeles Through the Eyes of Artists.”

Metro Art Presents: Salsa Night at Union Station

When: 7-10 p.m. Sept. 28

Where: Los Angeles Union Station,  800 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles

Cost: Free

Information: unionstationla.com

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​ Orange County Register 

State housing lawsuit against Huntington Beach put on pause

• September 24, 2024

A San Diego Superior Court judge put a pause on the state’s lawsuit against Huntington Beach, in which it accused the city of violating housing laws by not planning for more units to get built.

Judge Katherine Bacal on Thursday, Sept. 19, issued a stay on the case following several appeals in both state and federal court related to the battle over housing requirements.

The pause will delay any enforcement action against the city for not adopting a compliant housing element, a policy document outlining where new housing can be built. A compliant housing element would see Huntington Beach allowing at least 13,368 housing units to be built this decade. However, private developers would have to want to build in the city to see those homes become a reality.

The pause also stops the clock for the year the city will have to get a new housing element in place, according to City Attorney Michael Gates.

Gates said there are no looming penalties or land-use restrictions for the city. He called it a “black eye” to the attorney general’s office, which had sought an order from the judge to require compliance within months.

“The state has gotten nothing out of this case,” Gates said.

The state filed the lawsuit in March 2023. Bacal ruled against Huntington Beach in the case in May, declaring that it had violated state law when officials refused to plan for more housing in the city. Bacal then ruled in July that the city would have a year to update its housing plans.

The court has canceled upcoming hearings for the case, with a status conference now set for March.

Huntington Beach voters this November will also decide if residents should have a stronger role in approving new housing plans. Measure U, if approved, would require voter approval each time to carry out zoning changes associated with a new housing element when there are “significant and unavoidable” environmental impacts.

Gov Gavin Newsom this month called out Huntington Beach as not doing enough when he signed several laws aimed at boosting housing production in the state and increasing penalties for cities that refuse.

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​ Orange County Register