California cracks down on ‘forever chemicals,’ or PFAS, found in food packaging

• October 18, 2023

California Attorney General Rob Bonta hosted a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at Los Angeles State Historic Park, to warn companies of their responsibility to disclose the presence of dangerous PFAS under Assembly Bill 1200.

He issued a letter to manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food packaging and cookware, alerting them that they must adhere to AB 1200, a recently enacted law that restricts the presence of PFAS in food packaging and imposes labeling disclosure requirements for cookware.

Bonta also issued a consumer alert with tips for reducing exposure to PFAS, referred to as “forever chemicals” which include thousands of toxic chemicals widely used in every day products including food packaging, cookware, clothing, carpets, shoes, fabrics, polishes, waxes, paints and cleaners.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta hosted a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, at Los Angeles State Historic Park to warn companies of their responsibility to disclose the presence of dangerous PFAS under Assembly Bill 1200. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles daily News/SCNG)

“Like so many Californians, I am greatly concerned about PFAS exposure,” Bonta said in a press release. “These chemicals are toxic and are all around us. … As the People’s Attorney, I’ve been turning that concern into concrete action by holding accountable big PFAS manufacturers like 3M and DuPont and supporting federal efforts to better protect Americans’ drinking water supply from PFAS.”

Bonta said the PFAS enforcement advisory letter and the consumer alert that he issued “continue these important efforts to protect Californians from harm.”

AB 1200 took effect January 1, 2023, prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, or sale of plant-based (paper) food packaging that contains PFAS. AB 1200 also requires cookware manufacturers to disclose — on the internet or on product labels — the presence of PFAS and other chemicals. It also prohibits manufacturers from claiming their cookware is PFAS-free unless certain conditions are met.

Related Articles

Susan Little, a senior advocate for California government affairs at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said in the press release, “PFAS are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they are among the most persistent compounds in existence. They never break down in the environment, and they build up in people. These chemicals don’t belong in our food packaging or our food. Exposure to PFAS isn’t just a concern; it’s a substantial health hazard. Studies have linked them to increased cancer risks and devastating impacts on reproductive and immune systems, even at tiny concentrations.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta hosted a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, at Los Angeles State Historic Park to warn companies of their responsibility to disclose the presence of dangerous PFAS under Assembly Bill 1200. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles daily News/SCNG)

Dr. Max Aung, assistant professor in the division of environmental health at USC, said that national health studies have detected PFAS “in nearly all U.S. residents.” He said in the press release, “There is increasing evidence in human studies and experimental models that PFAS are linked to several chronic health conditions. … These findings, coupled with increasing community concerns about PFAS contamination, underscore the need to use the best available science and multi-sector partnerships to reduce exposure and protect human health and the environment.”

​ Orange County Register 

Arab leader summit called off as Biden heads to Israel

• October 18, 2023

By Colleen Long, Aamer Madhani and Chris Megerian | Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s efforts to tamp down tensions in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas faced massive setbacks even before he departed for the Middle East on Tuesday, as Jordan called off the president’s planned summit with Arab leaders after a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds.

Biden now will visit only Israel and will postpone his travel to Jordan, a White House official said as Biden departed.

The postponement of the Amman summit comes after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas withdrew from the scheduled meetings in protest of the attacks, which the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza blamed on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said it had no involvement and pinned the blame on a misfired Palestinian rocket.

“This war and this aggression are pushing the region to the brink,” Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, told al-Mamlaka TV, a state-run network. He said Jordan would only host the summit when all participants agreed on its purpose, which would be to “stop the war, respect the humanity of the Palestinians, and deliver the aid they deserve.”

The cancellation reflects an increasingly volatile situation that will test the limits of American influence in the region as Biden visits Wednesday.

Biden’s decision to put himself in a conflict zone — the same year he made a surprise visit to Ukraine — demonstrates his willingness to take personal and political risks as he becomes heavily invested in another intractable foreign conflict with no clear end game and plenty of opportunity for things to spiral out of control.

The high-stakes presidential trip is emblematic of Biden’s belief that the United States should not turn back from its central role on the global stage and his faith that personal diplomacy can play a decisive role.

“This is how Joe Biden believes politics works and history is made,” said Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while Biden was a member.

There’s been no water, fuel or food delivered to Gaza since the brutal Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and triggered the unfolding war. Mediators have been struggling to break a deadlock over providing supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals.

As the humanitarian crisis grows, so too does the concern of a spiraling conflict that stretches beyond the borders of Gaza. There have already been skirmishes on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group that’s based in Southern Lebanon.

“There’s a lot that can go wrong on this trip,” Alterman said.

Biden’s travels will be rife with security concerns, and visits by other U.S. officials have been disrupted by rocket launches into Israel. Additional Israeli airstrikes in Gaza could also prompt more condemnation at a time when Biden is intending to demonstrate solidarity with the United States’ closest ally in the region.

The U.S. has subtly shifted its message over the past week, maintaining full-throated support for Israel while slowly turning up the diplomatic volume on the need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza, as Biden and aides have heard increasingly dire predictions about the potential for images of suffering Palestinians to ignite protests and broader unrest throughout the Middle East.

U.S. officials said it has become clear that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel’s military operations would evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsened.

Their analysis projected that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would not only be a boon to Hamas but would likely encourage Iran to step up its anti-Israel activity, adding to fears that a regional conflagration might erupt, according to four officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, bouncing back and forth between Arab and Israeli leadership ahead of Biden’s visit, spent seven and a half hours meeting Monday in Tel Aviv in an effort to broker some kind of aid agreement and emerged with a green light to create a plan on how aid can enter Gaza and be distributed to civilians.

It was on the surface a modest accomplishment, but U.S. officials stressed that it represented a significant change in Israel’s position going in — that Gaza would remain cut off from fuel, electricity, water and other essential supplies.

Biden has a long track record of showing public support for Israel while expressing concerns privately to the Israelis about their behavior.

“He believes the only way to get inside the Israelis’ heads is to demonstrate profound empathy, but also to be there,” Alterman said.

In the U.S., Biden has won rare praise from Republicans over his leadership on Israel, but prospects for providing additional aid are uncertain. The administration has said it would ask for more than $2 billion in aid for both Israel and Ukraine, though House Republicans remain in disarray.

Still, Biden is committed to both Ukraine and Israel.

“We’re the United States of America, for God’s sake, the most powerful nation in the history of the world,” he said this week on CBS’ “60 Minutes” when asked whether the wars in Israel and Ukraine were more than the U.S. can take on at once. “We have the capacity to do this and we have an obligation to. … And if we don’t, who does?”

In Israel, Biden was expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. His plans to then meet in Jordan with King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas were scrapped.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for decades, and to a large extent, it’s involved the same cadre of men. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history. Abbas has been Palestinian president for nearly 20 years. Abdullah II has been king since 1999 — Biden has called the Jordanian king a loyal ally in a “tough neighborhood.” El-Sissi is the newest leader, president since 2014.

It’s important for these leaders, too, to avoid a prolonged and engulfing regional escalation, particularly as Egypt and Jordan face growing economic tumult.

Related Articles

In September, the International Monetary Fund issued a report saying that Egypt and Jordan are among the countries in the region that “stand at the brink of a debt crisis.” Egypt in particular is struggling with high inflation.

Neither nation wants to absorb refugees. Jordan already has a large Palestinian population, and the country is coping with hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

With tens of thousands of troops massed along the Israel-Gaza border, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion — but plans remain uncertain. U.S. officials have refused to say whether the Israelis were holding off in order for Biden to visit.

“We are preparing for the next stages of war,” Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said. “We haven’t said what they will be. Everybody’s talking about a ground offensive. It might be something different.”

Meanwhile, the death toll is mounting even without the war’s next stage. Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 2,700 people and wounded more than 9,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly two-thirds of those killed were children, a ministry official said.

Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes — roughly half of Gaza’s population — and 60% are now in the approximately 8-mile-long (14-kilometer-long) area south of the evacuation zone, according to the United Nations.

Associated Press Writers Josh Boak in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Matthew Lee in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

WNBA Finals: Aces lose ‘general’ Chelsea Gray for Game 4 vs. Liberty

• October 17, 2023

NEW YORK — Chelsea Gray is out at least for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals after suffering an injury to her left foot Sunday.

The Las Vegas Aces star guard was wearing a boot on her foot and had it propped up on a scooter she used to get into practice Tuesday. She was injured in Game 3 on Sunday midway through the fourth quarter.

“It’s painful. I’m waiting for more information, it’s not good,” said Gray, who was going to wait until she got back to Las Vegas for further evaluation.

Las Vegas also will be missing forward Kiah Stokes, who had a boot on her right foot.

“I don’t know exactly, I woke up and my foot was hurting and we’re trying to figure it out from there,” Stokes said.

Game 4 is Wednesday night in New York and Las Vegas leads the best-of-five series 2-1. Game 5 would be on Friday if the Liberty even the series.

“You get to the Finals and you don’t get this time back. So it sucks in that way,” Gray said. “But I’m excited still to win a championship. We do it by committee. We haven’t been whole for a long time. Candace (Parker) has been out … so we’re kind of built for this moment.”

Gray said that she injured the foot in the fourth quarter of Las Vegas’ 87-73 loss to New York. She tried to shake it off but knew something was wrong when she couldn’t get up and down the court on the next few possessions.

“Obviously the timing (stinks),” Gray said. “There’s only a couple games left in our season.”

Gray, who is averaging 15.6 points and 6.8 assists in the playoffs this year, has been durable throughout her time with Las Vegas since joining the team as a free agent in 2021, missing only one game.

“We lost our general,” coach Becky Hammon said. “I don’t think there’s any one person that’s going to step up and fill her shoes.”

With Gray and Stokes out, the Aces will need to rely on reserves Sydney Colson and Cayla George to fill their void.

The Aces depth was one of the teams major questions coming into the season. Coming off the championship last year, Las Vegas hoped to increase its depth, but because of an injury to Candace Parker that has sidelined her since late July and Riquna Williams’ legal issues, the team hasn’t been able to do that.

The Aces have had to rely heavily on their four stars — Gray, A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum — this season. The four have combined to average 75 of the team’s 88 points a game in the playoffs.

Gray’s injury is the latest in a long line of distractions that the defending champion Aces have had to overcome this season. Before the WNBA’s 27th season began, the league investigated the team after former Aces player Dearica Hamby said she had been bullied and manipulated for being pregnant.

The WNBA suspended Hammon for two games and also rescinded the Aces’ first-round pick in the 2025 draft for a different issue — a violation of league rules regarding impermissible player benefits.

Related Articles

Unhappy with the league’s findings, Hamby then filed a gender discrimination complaint last month against the WNBA and the Aces with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“A lot of adversity and pretty much my girls have held their tongues, been professional the whole time and went about their business,” Hammon said.

WNBA Finals Game 4

Who: Las Vegas Aces at New York Liberty

When: Wednesday, 5 p.m.

Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: ESPN

​ Orange County Register 

Hotter temperatures expected mid-week before a cooler fall weekend

• October 17, 2023

Yes, we’re nearing the end of October – but summery weather is still on the horizon.

In Los Angeles County, temperatures will be well above normal over the next few days, with Thursday likely to be the hottest day of the week, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sirard.

Temperatures in most coastal areas will remain in the mid-70s, including 78 degrees in Santa Monica on Thursday and Friday. For downtown Los Angeles, expect mostly clear and sunny skies with highs in the 80s and near 90s before the weekend.

The valleys will see highs in the 90s before Friday, with Woodland Hills in San Fernando Valley nearing the 100s on Thursday, according to Sirard. By Friday, temperatures will drop to the lower 70s near the beaches and low to mid-90s in valley areas, as the weather will continue to cool off quite a bit through the weekend.

In inland parts of Orange County, and the Inland Empire, temperatures will remain toasty in the middle of the week until Friday, when folks can expect cooler weather through the weekend and early next week, said National Weather Service meteorologist Casey Oswant.

A heat advisory in Riverside and San Bernardino County will remain in effect from Wednesday morning to Thursday evening, with temperatures anticipated to reach near the 100s, including 97 degrees in Perris and 98 in San Bernardino. By Saturday, mostly sunny skies will be met with highs in the 80s before cooling down into the high 60s and mid-70s come Monday next week.

Coastal areas in Orange County may see highs in the mid-70s and 80s, such as 83 degrees in Huntington Beach on Thursday, while inland regions will see a spike in temperature in the middle of the week, ranging from high 80s to mid-90s.

Those planning on enjoying Knott’s Scary Farm’s selection of haunted mazes and spooky scare zones in Buena Park can expect hotter temperatures in the 80s during the day, with cooler weather in the low 60s during the evening.

By Sunday, fall weather approaches Orange County with overnight patchy fog, partly cloudy skies, and cooler temperatures in the low 70s come Monday and Tuesday next week.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers’ Darvin Ham gives Anthony Davis the green light on 3-pointers

• October 17, 2023

EL SEGUNDO — Lakers coach Darvin Ham wants to see Anthony Davis let it fly from behind the arc more.

To the point where Ham recently publicly made a request when it comes to Davis’ 3-point shooting.

“I know he won’t do it – maybe he’ll shock me – but I’ve requested to see six 3-point attempts a game,” Ham recently said. “Three per half, at least. I wouldn’t put that on him if I didn’t think he was capable.

“He’s more than capable and I just think once he calibrates his mind to have that focus, he’ll do it. Amongst all the other things, the great things that he does.”

Although Davis’ play during the preseason suggests he’ll take more 3-point shots, Ham had good reasons for saying he’d be surprised if Davis took as many as he requested.

Lauri Markkanen (2021-22 and 2022-23) and Michael Porter Jr. (last season) are the only players listed as 6-foot-10 or taller who took at least six 3-pointers per game in the past two seasons.

Davis attempted 1.3 3-point shots per game last season, his lowest output from behind the arc since the 2014-15 season. His career-high mark for 3-point shots per game in a season is 3.5 (2019-20), which is the only time he took more than three.

Davis is shooting the 3-ball during this preseason at a significantly higher frequency (5.29 3s per 36 minutes) than he did during the 2022-23 regular season (1.4 per 36 minutes). But he took an even higher frequency of 3-pointers – 5.55 per 36 minutes – in last year’s preseason before dialing it back significantly when the games started to count in the standings.

Davis doesn’t have a specific number of 3-point shots in mind he wants to take per game.

“It’s based on the style of play, the flow of the game,” Davis responded when asked what aggression looks like for him from long range. “Some games, I might take one, some I might take none. Some I might take six. I don’t want to come in like ‘I need to shoot six’ and start thinking about that and start shooting bad shots, right?

“If I’m open, I’ll shoot it. Or if I’m in rhythm, I’ll shoot it, but I don’t want to be hovering around the 3-point line too much all game. But, I just go out and shoot with confidence. And if that’s six of them, four, three, one, none, whatever the flow of the game is telling me, that’s how many I’ll shoot.”

This is the bigger-picture point Ham wants Davis to embrace: Be aggressive and don’t hesitate from anywhere on the floor.

“I want him to be aggressive from all three levels,” Ham said after Tuesday’s practice. “I don’t want him to think ‘OK, man,’ and second-guess his shot. He catches it and no one’s in front of him or his defender is off of him, I want him shooting the ball from three.

Related Articles

“If he happens to be in the corner, he catches it, I want him to shoot the ball from three. While still being aggressive in the low post and the midrange. It’s not like I just want him to become this exclusive stretch big all of a sudden. I just want him to be aggressive from each and every spot on the floor.”

That’s what Davis has shown so far during preseason, with the final exhibition coming Thursday night against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms.

Davis hasn’t hesitated when defenders have sagged off of him from behind the arc. He’s either attempted 3-point shots quickly, used the extra space given to him to drive into the paint or quickly flowed into another action.

“Once we see you working, we’re gonna encourage our guys to be aggressive in places where we know they can be successful,” Ham said. “It’s no different with A.D. Just seeing how he’s worked this summer. The way he’s attacking his individual game, as well as figuring out ways to enhance the team and make them more effective with his presence, it just makes it easy for me to encourage them to be aggressive and assertive and have that trust.”

​ Orange County Register 

31 stores in California on Rite Aid closure list

• October 17, 2023

Rite Aid has marked 31 stores in California for closure in its restructuring plan, which was filed Monday, Oct. 16 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

The chain, which previously said it might close 500 stores, wrote that at least 154 stores would close.

The troubled retail pharmacy chain is facing slumping sales and several opioid-related lawsuits. To make ends meet, the company is looking to reduce its debt while resolving “litigation claims in an equitable manner,” Rite Aid reps said Sunday.

At least 10 stores will close across Los Angeles County. Another six will shutter in Orange County and just two in the Inland Empire. Only one, a store on South Archibald Avenue in Ontario appears to have closed already.

“Many of the stores on this list have already closed and received ample notice of the closure, while some will close in the coming weeks,” Rite Aid said via email Tuesday.

Here’s the list of stores Rite Aid has marked for closure in California. The store number precedes each address:

LA County

5448 — 4044 Eagle Rock Boulevard, Los Angeles

6288 — 959 Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles

5457 — 4046 South Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles

5466 — 7859 Firestone Boulevard, Downey

5521 — 4402 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach

5571 — 935 North Hollywood Way, Burbank

5585 — 139 North Grand Avenue, Covina

5593 — 13905 Amar Road, La Puente

5611 — 920 East Valley Boulevard, Alhambra

6333 — 15800 Imperial Highway, La Mirada

Orange County

5735 — 24829 Del Prado, Dana Point

6717 — 8509 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine

5753 — 30222 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel

5757 — 19701 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda

5760 — 1406 West Edinger Avenue, Santa Ana

6213 — 3029 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa

Inland Empire

6318 — 3000 South Archibald Avenue, Ontario (marked closed on Yelp)

5730 — 25906 Newport Road, Menifee

North of LA

5772 — 2738 East Thompson Blvd., Ventura (marked closed on Yelp)

5780 — 720 North Ventura Road, Oxnard

San Diego County

5635 — 3813 Plaza Drive, Oceanside

5638 — 1670 Main Street, Ramona

5657 — 6505 Mission Gorge Road, San Diego

5661 — 8985 Mira Mesa Boulevard, San Diego (marked closed on Yelp)

Northern California

5967 — 20572 Homestead Road, Cupertino

5976 — 2620 El Camino Real, Santa Clara

5979 — 901 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz

6001 — 571 Bellevue Road, Atwater

6045 — 5409 Sunrise Boulevard, Citrus Heights

6080 — 1309 Fulton Avenue, Sacramento

6769 — 499 Alvarado Street, Monterey

The 60-year-old Rite Aid operates 2,100 stores in the U.S., mostly in coastal states, and has posted annual losses for several years. The company reported that its revenue fell to $5.7 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended June 3, down from $6.0 billion a year earlier, logging a net loss of $306.7 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

High school football: Orange County stat leaders through Oct. 14

• October 17, 2023

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

Here are the Orange County high school football stat leaders after the Week 7 games.

The leaderboards are based on season stats published on MaxPreps.com.

To be included, teams must have stats updated on MaxPreps each Tuesday by 2 p.m.

PASSING: TOTAL YARDS

Name, school                                         Yds.      Yds/G.   Comp. Att.    TD

Jackson Kollock, Laguna Beach             1949       278.4      130     208     26

Max Ruff, St. Margaret’s                         1911       238.9       158     240     21

Alonzo Esparza, Los Alamitos                1906       238.3       191     125     21

Anthony Luna, Western                          1900       271.4      131     194     24

Nate Bento, El Dorado                            1729      247.0       107     168     16

Elijah Brown, Mater Dei                          1674       239.1       114    156      25

Nate Richie, Capo Valley Christian         1669       278.2       125    185      20

Cash O’Byrne, Tesoro                             1573       224.7       109    174      11

Ryan Reger, Fullerton                             1527       218.1       101     170     15

Rudy Alcala, Troy                                    1508       215.4         77     137     21

Jacob Perry, Trabuco Hills                       1476      184.5        129     194    12

Jaden O’Neal, Newport Harbor                1462      208.9        126     20      17

Nicholas Miali, Foothill                             1430       204.3       112     180     13

Noa Banua, Fountain Valley                    1425       237.5        113     176     18

Sergio Torres, Santa Ana                         1414      176.8          89     154     15

Corin Rynders, Canyon                            1373      196.1        126      243    10

Jeremiah Finaly, Crean Lutheran              1355      193.6        114      168    17

Austin Shepard, Beckman                         1313     187.6          92      133     20

Cullen Doyle, Brea Olinda                         1300      185.7           99      173   12

Brady Edmunds, Huntington Beach           1294      184.9          78      156    15

Devin Almazan, Kennedy                           1282      183.1        102      155    14

Annett Kaleb, Corona del Mar                    1240      177.1        117      205    13

Timmy Herr, San Juan Hills                        1238      176.9        100      146    12

Holden Nagin, Yorba Linda                         1202      171.7         94       127     17

MJ Fernandez, Anaheim                             1201      171.6         84       151      8

Koa Saito, University                                   1198      199.7         72       134     19

Rocky Palacio, Portola                                1189      169.9         87       169       9

Leo Hannan, Servite                                    1113      159.0         81       130       6

RUSHING: TOTAL YARDS

Name, school                                         Yds       Yds/G     Yds/Car    Att     TD

Ardwon Morris, Orange                          1499        187.4        8.47       177      20

Aiden Rubin, San Clemente                   1175        167.9        7.99       147      16

Aaron Forsgren, Esperanza                    1138       189.7        9.98        114      15

Julius Gillick, Edison                               1039        148.4       7.70        135      13

Eimesse Essis, Tustin                              1025       146.4      11.14         92        8

Nathan Aceves, Brea Olinda                     943        134.7        6.33       149      12

Matthew Peters, Calvary Chapel               936        117.0       11.56         81       7

Aaron Mitchell, Foothill                              904         129.1        6.75       134     14

Charles Hughes, Santa Ana                      903         129.0        7.59       119     17

Tatum Ramos, Woodbridge                       863         123.3        8.22       105       8

Brandon Figueroa, Irvine                           853         121.9        6.27        136     10

Charles Denny, Valencia                            852         106.5       5.88         145     13

Carter Christie, Villa Park                           847         121.0      11.45         74      13

Travis Wood, Tesoro                                  811          115.9         5.44       149       7

Taylor Bowie, Trabuco Hills                       776            97.0         5.46       142       8

Pablo Reyes, Garden Grove                     761          126.8         5.68       134       5

Jonathan Rodriguez, Century                    738           105.4       6.77        109       4

Tommy Acosta, Capistrano Valley             726            103.7       7.48         97     12

Anthony Abad, Sonora                               719           102.7       7.49         96      12

Steve Chavez, Orange Lutheran                700           100.0        5.26       133       9

Justin Dominguez, Crean Lutheran            688             98.3        7.09          97       7

Sullivan Land, San Juan Hills                     657             93.9        6.77         97        8

Jake Martinez, Whittier Christian                655           109.2        7.62         86       11

RECEIVING: TOTAL YARDS

Name, school                                        Yds       Yds/G     Yds/Rec    Rec     TD

Cristian Ramos, Santa Ana                    812        101.5          19.80       41        9

Vander Ploog, Troy                                 768        109.7          20.76       37      11

Ryan Luce, Trabuco Hills                        721         90.1           13.11       55       5

Max Krosky, Capo Valley Christian         702        117.0          14.94       47      10

Nolan Olivares, Fountain Valley              686        114.3          15.59       44        8

Jordan Anderson, Newport Harbor         677          96.7           13.54      50        7

Kamran Jahromi, Portola                        659          94.1           17.81       37       7

Vance Spafford, Mission Viejo                646          92.3           15.02       43       9

Trent Mosley, Santa Margarita                643          91.9           16.08       40       6

Russell Frye, St. Margaret’s                    621         77.6            11.50       54       6

Davon Mitchell, Los Alamitos                  619          77.4           18.21       34       7

Dylan Gardner, Yorba Linda                    614          87.7           14.28       43       5

Hunter Gray, Huntington Beach               607         86.7            26.39       23      9

Jason Robinson, San Juan Hills              594         84.9             15.63       38      7

Will Viola, St. Margaret’s                          582         72.8             14.55       40      7

Declan Kai Healey, Troy                           580         82.9             23.20       25     10

Josiah Lamarque, Newport Harbor           569         81.3            12.93        44      8

Deacon Moss, Irvine                                 562         80.3            16.53        34       4

Jack Zerkel, Foothill                                  551         78.7            15.31        36       6

Russell Weir, Corona del Mar                   549         78.4            14.08         39      5

Desmin Joshway-Fairley, Western           543          77.6            14.68        37      6

Blaine Anderson, University                      531         75.9             12.95        41      9

Noah Kucera, Dana Hills                           526         75.1             15.94       33       4

Xavier Cadena, El Dorado                        509          72.7             18.18        28      6

Lucas Raya, El Dorado                             506          72.3             19.46        26      6

Lance Guerrero, Tesoro                            503          71.9             13.60        37      3

Ryner Swanson, Laguna Beach                491          70.1             15.84        31      8

Devin Bell, Kennedy                                  487          69.6              13.53        36      4

Carson Clark, Los Alamitos                       483          60.4              16.65       28      4

Sean O’Rourke, Beckman                         477          68.1              17.67       27      7

TACKLES – TOTAL

Name, school                                          Tackles      Tck/G      Solo      Asst        TFL

Hoi Hansen, Edison                                     102          14.6           25         77            2

Jackson Sievers, Capistrano Valley               96          13.7          69         27             9

Carter Jones, Crean Lutheran                       94           13.4          68         26            7

Tanner Muir, Newport Harbor                        91            13.0         54         37            3

Gabriel Jimenez, La Habra                            85           12.1          43         42            0

Battle Gideons, St. Margaret’s                       83            10.4          43        40            5

Clayton Corbett, Western                               80           11.4          49         31            9

Johnny Rojas, Whittier Christian                    77            11.0          30        47            7

Rocco Burdett, Cypress                                 72             10.3         56        16            8

Evangelino Salud, Westminster                     71             11.8         29        42            4

Jesse Vargas, La Habra                                71              10.1        39        32             5

Gavin Ghahsayi, Calvary Chapel                   69               8.6         30        39            4

Jake Javorsky, San Juan Hills                        68               9.7         50        18          19

Nathan Nieves, Calvary Chapel                     68               8.5          28        40          25

Brandon Soleau, Huntington Beach               67               9.6          46        21          11

Joel Clemente, Fullerton                                 67               9.6         27        40            3

Mac Wolf, El Dorado                                       67               9.6         16        51           13

Dalton Hurd, Tesoro                                        66               9.4         20        46            4

Chris Villalobos, Godinez                                66               9.4         40        26            0

Noah Sulick, Santa Margarita                         65               9.3          25       40            5

Eddie Zarate, Bolsa Grande                            65              9.3          35       30            1

Jack Klausner, St. Margaret’s                          64              9.1          29       35          10

Jacob Johnson, Villa Park                               64              9.1            5       59          8.5

​ Orange County Register 

Andrew Friedman: Dodgers ‘need to figure out’ October problems

• October 17, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Booted from the postseason in four games by the San Diego Padres last fall, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman called it “an organizational failure.”

So how would he characterize a second consecutive first-round exit, this time after a three-game National League Division Series sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks?

“I think those words ring true,” Friedman said. “We’ve talked about this a lot, and I would hope that our actions demonstrate this – our goal each and every year is to win a championship. In our opinion, putting ourselves in the best position to do that in the regular season, is to win the division, which then puts us in the best position to win a championship. And when we don’t do that, I think it’s fair to say it’s an organizational failure.

“Our goal was to win 11 games in October and we didn’t win one. So we need to figure out what we can do differently and how to go about it.”

But Friedman’s answers to 30 minutes’ worth of questions at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon sounded very familiar and made it unclear what – if any – significant changes the Dodgers will make to address their October problem.

“Because organizational failure means it’s on all of us. We all have a hand in it,” he said to that. “If this were one person or a small collection of people – in my estimation – then we would make changes. We just wouldn’t do it to say, ‘Look, we’ve made changes’ and try to cover up what has happened. Instead, we have a lot of extremely disappointed, angry people who are all gonna work really hard together to avoid being in this position next year.

“With the talent, with how much they care, with their work ethic, how much they care about these fans and doing everything we can to win a championship in 2024, it felt like making a change would be for the sake of it instead of actually bringing better, more talented people here.”

Friedman made it clear that he did not feel staffing changes were called for and said Dave Roberts will return for a ninth season as manager in 2024. Roberts agreed to a contract extension last spring that runs through 2025.

“The one thing I can say with absolute certainty – and there aren’t a lot of things I can do that about, as we post-mortem – is it was certainly not from a lack of effort, watching the way these guys prepared, cared, did everything they could to put themselves in the best position to go out and have success,” Friedman said. “We didn’t do it and that is ultimately what matters most. .. But I think Doc and our coaching staff did an incredible job this year. And none of us did a good job for those three games against Arizona.”

Friedman also would not blame the playoff format, which gives the top two seeds in each league a first-round bye and five days off before starting postseason play – even though the 100-win Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles were eliminated in the division series round.

“I certainly would not use that as an excuse,” Friedman said. “And our goal next year is to win the division and have those five days off again.”

Ultimately, it was the players who failed in the postseason for the second consecutive year.

Starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn gave up 13 runs while recording 14 outs against the Diamondbacks. Friedman acknowledged that shoring up a starting rotation that dissolved over the course of the season will be a priority this offseason.

But Friedman called the disappearance of an offense that scored more than 900 runs during the regular season – led by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who combined to go 1 for 21 in the NLDS – was “our bigger issue … because it was unexpected.”

It was unexpected in 2022 as well. And yet, the Dodgers have followed up 211 regular-season wins with back-to-back first-round playoff exits.

“I don’t know the answer,” Friedman said. “For our offense to be an issue this year was really surprising to us. We scored over 900 runs for the first time in Los Angeles Dodger history. It’s the best offensive team we’ve had in this run. So that was surprising to us. Obviously, there are three-game snippets throughout a year where our offense doesn’t perform. How much of it is that? How much of it is other things? I don’t know the answer.

“A lot of these things, it’s hard to know the answer to. There is an element that is October theater, and just what plays out on a daily and nightly basis. And there’s other things that we can do a better job on. And how to separate those, it’s incumbent upon us to figure out.”

Related Articles

The Dodgers’ search for answers this winter could lead to some big expenditures – to restore their stock of starting pitching or to renew enthusiasm among a fan base no longer excited by 100-win seasons or division titles. Shohei Ohtani would do one of those immediately (and the other perhaps down the line).

“Who?” Friedman joked when asked about Ohtani’s pending free agency.

“Obviously, we can’t talk about free agents or pending free agents. … For us, obviously we’re extremely angry, disappointed with how these last two offseasons have gone. We’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in position for it not to happen next year. What that means exactly, I’m not sure yet. But I do feel very confident that when we show up in Arizona in February, we’re going to have a team that has very, very legit championship aspirations and then it’s about going out and taking care of that first part of the goal in the regular season and then doing whatever we can to make sure we’re not sitting here in this exact setting a year from now.”

​ Orange County Register