Dodgers break out of slump, complete trip with sweep of Mets
- May 30, 2024
NEW YORK — If you can break it here, you can break it anywhere.
The Dodgers arrived at Citi Field reeling from a three-game sweep in Cincinnati, slumping offensively and wearing a five-game losing streak, their longest in five years.
They snapped the losing streak on Tuesday and broke out of the offensive slump on Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a 10-3 victory.
The 10 runs were the most they had scored in a game since a 10-2 win in San Francisco on May 14 and nearly matched their total during the losing streak (11).
Will Smith carried the day in the series finale, going 3 for 4 with two home runs and a double. But the Dodgers piled up 16 hits, their highest total since a 16-hit barrage against the Atlanta Braves on May 4. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were the only starters not to indulge.
Eight-for-43 (.186) in his 11 games before Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani had a two-run home run and an RBI single. Miguel Rojas had a four-hit game with a double and an RBI. Jason Heyward came off the bench to triple in the eighth and homer in the ninth.
Six of the runs came in that eighth inning and washed away a pitching plan fraught with peril.
Starting pitching carried the Dodgers (36-22) through their doubleheader sweep Tuesday. Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone each gave them seven outstanding innings. They didn’t ask James Paxton to continue the trend.
The Dodgers have handled the 35-year-old Paxton carefully this season. Wednesday was the first time in 10 starts that he had been asked to pitch on four days of rest – the standard for decades but one the Dodgers have abandoned, preferring to give their starting pitchers more time off between starts.
They got just three scoreless innings and only 50 pitches from Paxton.
That put an early 3-0 lead in the hands of the bullpen with six innings to cover.
Smith was largely responsible for that lead. He led off the second inning with his third home run on this six-game road trip then led off the fourth with a double into the left field corner. Andy Pages drove him in with a single.
The Dodgers made it 3-0 in the fifth when Miguel Vargas walked, moved to second on a wild pickoff attempt and scored on Ohtani’s RBI single (114.1 mph off the bat).
Bouncing back from his troubling outings in Cincinnati, Yohan Ramirez retired the side in the fourth – with Vargas’ help, running down a drive by Jeff McNeil near the wall in left-center.
Elieser Hernandez took the handoff – and fumbled the lead away.
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Hernandez didn’t retire any of the three batters he faced, giving up a single to Harrison Bader, a two-run home run to No. 9 hitter Tomas Nido and then walking Francisco Lindor. Nido’s home run was the fifth one Hernandez has given up in 9⅔ innings with the Dodgers.
Michael Grove replaced Hernandez and gave up a game-tying RBI double to J.D. Martinez before getting out of the inning.
Smith got the lead back for the Dodgers in the eighth and kicked off the big inning. He lined a hanging slider from Adam Ottavino into the seats for his second home run of the game and the 100th of his career.
The Dodgers poured it on from there against a Mets team that has lost eight of nine and is just 10-25 since April 21. Heyward tripled and scored on a Rojas single. Vargas drove in two runs with a double and Ohtani went the opposite way with a sinker that didn’t sink for his 14th home run of the season.
More to come on this story.
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Photos: Valedictorians and top scholars for Orange County’s Class of 2024
- May 30, 2024
We asked high schools across Orange County to invite their valedictorians and top scholars to submit their photos and a little bit about themselves to celebrate their achievements as this senior year comes to a close. The following are the high school students who submitted their information, including after-graduation plans, and their career goals.
Congratulations, graduates!
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Services set for longtime sports official ‘Speed’ Castillo
- May 30, 2024
Services for longtime Orange County sports referee Espiridion “Speed” Castillo will be held at Christ Cathedral on June 27 at 11 a.m.
A reception is to follow the Mass at Christ Cathedral. Burial is at Riverside National Cemetery on June 28 at 10 a.m.
Castillo died May 18 in Anaheim of natural causes. He was 94.
Castillo was a high school and college football and basketball official for 47 years, retiring in 2000. He was the Orange County liaison of officials for the CIF Southern Section for 21 years. Castillo worked in security at Disneyland for eight years, and was student teacher supervisor at Concordia University for 15 years.
He worked in the Anaheim Union High School District from 1959 to 1993.
Castillo served in the U.S. Air Force, including in Korea, from 1951-54.
Castillo was born March 23, 1930, in New Mexico to Clemente & Guadalupe Castillo. He was the oldest of eight children.
He and Micaela J. Castillo, his wife for 54 years, had three children – son Michael and daughters Michelle and Liza. They had three grandchildren – Michael Nicklus, Jazmine and Etienne.
Castillo attended Northern Arizona University where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Business Administration degree.
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Coroner: Former Palm Desert Assemblymember Brian Nestande died of drug overdose
- May 30, 2024
Brian Nestande, a former state assemblyman and county administrator found dead in his Palm Desert home on March 6, died of a drug overdose, the Riverside County Coroner’s Bureau has determined.
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An autopsy report obtained Wednesday, May 29, by the Southern California News Group revealed Nestande, 60, died of cardiac arrhythmia caused by “multiple substance intoxication.” Toxicology results showed he had fentanyl, cocaine and the sedative Lorazepam in his blood at the time of death.
The autopsy also indicated Nestande had an enlarged heart, narrowing of his coronary arteries and changes in his kidneys consistent with chronic hypertension, which also may have contributed to his death.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Wednesday that an investigation is underway to determine, among other things, where and from whom Nestande obtained the drugs, whether he knowingly ingested fentanyl, or if he had unknowingly ingested fentanyl-spiked cocaine.
Bianco said he could not comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.
Political career
Nestande grew up in a political family. His father, Bruce Nestande, served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors for six years and three terms in the state Assembly. He died in 2020 at the age of 82.
Brian Nestande managed the successful congressional campaign for former Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono and served as his chief of staff until Bono’s death in a skiing accident in 1998. He subsequently served as Rep. Mary Bono’s chief of staff when she succeeded her late husband in Congress, according to Nestande’s website.
Nestande also served as an assemblymember for the 64th and 42nd Assembly districts from Dec. 1, 2008, through Nov. 30, 2014. And from 2015 to 2021, he worked as a deputy chief executive officer of legislation for Riverside County.
Nestande established Nestande and Associates in Palm Desert and was doing government consulting at the time of his death.
Grim discovery
Nestande’s friend, Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez, found Nestande’s body on the floor at his home office on Vermeer Way about 2 p.m. on March 6. Hernandez told coroner investigators he and his friends had been out to lunch together and said they had not seen or heard from Nestande in a few days, so they went to Nestande’s house to check on him, according to the coroner’s investigation report.
Finding the front door locked, Hernandez and his friends entered the residence through an unlocked sliding glass door in the backyard. Nestande’s wife, Palm Desert Councilmember Gina Nestande, was out of town at the time, but told Deputy Coroner Arysa Gonzalez-Romero via telephone she would be returning the following day.
Hernandez did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Investigators noted there appeared to be no signs of foul play inside the residence. Nestande’s body was found on the floor next to his desk. His body was cold to the touch, according to the coroner’s report.
Nestande’s desk was covered with paperwork, and a cup containing clear red liquid and an electronic cigarette were found next to a laptop computer, according to the report.
A bottle of losartan pills from Mexico, which are used to treat high blood pressure, also were found in the residence, according to the report.
Medical history
Gina Nestande, who did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, told Gonzalez-Romero via telephone that her husband had been taking medication for high blood pressure, and that his younger brother had died at a young age from heart complications. She told Gonzalez-Romero that while her husband did not appear to have any heart issues, he did not consult a physician regularly, according to the coroner’s report.
A pill found in Nestande’s shirt pocket was determined to be modafinil, a medication that promotes wakefulness and to treat conditions such as narcolepsy and sleep apnea.
Nestande’s doctor told Gonzalez-Romero via telephone she had not seen Nestande since September 2022 and had prescribed him losartan and rosuvastatin, which is used to treat high cholesterol, according to the coroner’s report.
The doctor, according to the coroner’s report, informed Gonzalez-Romero that Nestande had a family history of cardiac events – that his father died of a heart attack and his brother died of a heart attack at age 49.
Community ‘champion’
Following his death, Nestande was touted by those who knew him best as a “champion for the community.”
Among them was Assemblymember Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes, who served as Nestande’s campaign manager in 2014 and said Nestande’s pragmatic approach in working with colleagues was something he would take with him throughout his career.
Riverside County Supervisor Manny Perez said he and Nestande entered the state Assembly together in 2008 representing the Coachella Valley, and although they had different viewpoints, they formed an alliance that grew closer and stronger while working throughout the Great Recession. He said he will always remember Nestande as a devoted advocate for Riverside County.
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Chargers plan to get creative with outside linebackers
- May 30, 2024
COSTA MESA — It’s early days, of course, but by the looks of it, the Chargers would appear to be strongest of all at outside linebacker with Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree forming a menacing group of pass rushers who could be very impactful when the 2024 season begins.
Bosa and Mack are seasoned veterans and Tuipulotu is a second-year player who modeled his play after his more experienced and more accomplished teammates. Dupree is a veteran who signed with the Chargers as a free agent after stops with Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Atlanta.
“It’s a very talented group in leadership all across the board,” Chargers defensive line coach Mike Elston said Wednesday as organized team activities continued. “It’s a very veteran group and a very experienced group. Putting the pieces where we need to put them in different situations is going to be the fun part.”
For now, during workouts leading up to mini-camp next month and training camp starting near the end of July, Elston is working more closely with interior lineman such as Morgan Fox and Poona Ford and defensive assistant Dylan Roney is working with the edge rushers. In time, they’ll combine efforts.
“Right now, we’re in the early stages of installing everything and teaching technique,” Elston said. “When we get more into game-planning and further down the road, then we’re going to spend a lot more time together just so we’re on the same page with the rush plans and things like that.”
The idea is to create a formidable defensive front that is capable of stuffing the opposing ground game as well as harassing the quarterback. The Chargers excelled at times at pressuring quarterbacks last season, thanks to Mack’s career-best 17 sacks and Tuipulotu’s remarkable advancement as a rookie.
Bosa was hurt for the final seven games of the 2023 season, but is sound now and has joined Mack and their teammates for OTAs. Dupree had 6½ sacks last season with the Falcons after battling injuries for several years with the Titans and Steelers. He played all but one of 17 games last season.
Giving the opposition varied looks and keeping them guessing is critical.
“You want to have great versatility,” Elston said. “The first thing you want to teach is technique and blocking destruction. We’ve got to be able to knock people back and play the run, and I think we’ll do that very well. I think we have a lot of really good block destructors, guys who are very talented. And then we’ve got to be able to get after the quarterback. That edge room is probably as talented and as deep as any edge room in the country. We’ve got to lean on them for that part of it.”
Elston is part of the maize-and-blue wave that arrived from the University of Michigan along with head coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter during an offseason of change throughout the Chargers’ coaching staff. Elston coached the Wolverines’ defensive line the past two seasons.
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Michigan’s opponents averaged a mere 10.4 points per game last season as the Wolverines marched to a 15-0 record and a national championship.
“Going back to last year (at Michigan), we knew we were more talented on the inside with more depth from pass-rush ability from the defensive tackle position,” Elston said. “We were still able to be creative and put guys in certain situations, but we didn’t have to lean on (edge rushers) to create that pressure.
“Here, I think we have some good interior pass rushers. I think we’re going to be good there. But, obviously, where we can take a big step forward is using all those edge guys in a way to create disruption and create havoc in the backfield in passing situations. Our creativity will be our biggest strength.”
LEATHERWOOD SIGNS
The Chargers signed offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, a first-round draft pick of the Las Vegas Raiders who started all 17 games as a rookie in the 2021 season. He played only four games for the Chicago Bears in 2022 after the Raiders waived him and was on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad last season.
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Repeat drunken-driver charged with murder in Newport Beach collision that killed Rialto girl
- May 30, 2024
Orange County prosecutors charged a Fontana man who has previous drunken driving convictions with murder Wednesday, four days after a Memorial Day weekend collision on the Balboa Peninsula that killed a 14-year-old girl as she tried to cross a busy street.
Joseph Alcazar, 30, was charged with crimes including murder, driving under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily injury with two previous prior convictions; driving under the influence of alcohol with a BAC of 0.08 or higher with two previous prior convictions; and a misdemeanor count of willful endangerment of a child, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Alcazar’s blood-alcohol level registered at twice the legal limit of 0.08 on the night of the collision.
Orange County prosecutors on Wednesday, May 29, charged Fontana resident Joseph Alcazar with Murder, days after a Memorial Weekend crash in Newport Beach left a 14-year-old girl dead. (Courtesy of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
On Saturday, the victim, 14-year-old Rosenda Elizabeth Smiley of Rialto, was crossing Balboa Boulevard, west of Palm Street, with two other people against the don’t walk sign, the district attorney’s office said.
A driver stopped to let the group cross. But Alcazar, who was in the vehicle behind that driver, allegedly drove around the stopped car and struck Smiley while also running over a 13-year-old girl’s foot.
Smiley was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A 14-year-old girl living the California dream enjoying a day of sun and sand at the beach with friends to kick off the beginning of summer is dead because of the selfish decision of a stranger,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “A repeat drunk driver not only took the life of a little girl, but he also endangered the life of his own daughter by getting behind the wheel after drinking and traumatized her and the other young girls who witnessed him hitting and killing a teenager.”
Another man and Alcazar’s 8-year-old daughter were in the vehicle with him at the time of the crash.
Flowers and candles adorn a sidewalk on Tuesday, May 28, near the scene of a weekend accident on the Balboa Peninsula that killed a 14-year-old girl. (Photo by Mark Evans/SCNG)
Alcazar was previously convicted twice of driving under the influence in San Bernardino County in 2016 and 2020, including one collision that left him with serious injuries.
He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life plus six years if convicted on all counts.
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KTLA veteran weatherman Mark Kriski suffers ‘mild stroke’
- May 30, 2024
KTLA5 veteran weatherman Mark Kriski was recovering Wednesday from a “mild stroke” suffered earlier in the week.
Kriski, who has been a fixture on the KTLA Morning News program since it began more than 30 years ago, “is getting the best medical care and looks forward to being back with the team soon,” according to a social media post from the station.
“Mark checked in with us earlier on Wednesday and we’re happy to report that he’s in good spirits,” according to the station. “He also wanted to thank everyone who has reached out.”
News of Kriski’s stroke came nearly three weeks following the sudden death of another founding member of the KTLA Morning News crew — entertainment reporter Sam Rubin. Rubin died of a heart attack on May 10 at age 64.
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Rubin and Kriski both joined the KTLA Morning News during its 1991 inception. KTLA reporter/anchor Eric Spillman is also an original member of the program.
Kriski missed roughly three months of work in 2010-11 after he came down with pneumonia then was afflicted by a “super bug” he contracted while hospitalized, landing him in intensive care. He endured a dramatic weight loss during his extended hospitalization, but he returned to the Morning News in February 2011. He told the Los Angeles Times the “life-and-death experience” was both the worst and the best thing to have happened to him, noting, “You really do start to appreciate the little things in life.”
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Three old motels are now new affordable housing communities in Stanton
- May 30, 2024
Virgina Guevera, 66, had been homeless in Orange County since 2016, living in a car for half a decade before moving into a shelter for a few years.
But in January, she moved into a new affordable housing complex in Stanton that will be her first permanent home in years.
“To me, there’s peace and there’s serenity,” Guevera said. “You have privacy.”
Guevera’s home is in the Clara Vista apartments, one of three motel conversions unveiled on Wednesday, May 29, in Stanton. The three complexes, with a combined 153 rental units, are now all permanent supportive housing communities that will serve people who are experiencing homelessness, with some units set aside for those with significant mental disabilities and veterans.
All three developments received state funding from Homekey, which is one of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature programs that turns blighted motels and other properties into housing for the homeless – Newsom visited another Homekey project in Costa Mesa in January.
The county and city of Stanton also chipped in to fund the three new conversions along with help from tax credits.
The three apartment complexes that have finished in Stanton:
Iluma, 72 units, $24 million to develop out of the former Stanton Inn & Suites at 7161 Katella Ave.
Clara Vista, 60 units, $30 million to develop out of the former Tahiti Motel at 11850 Beach Blvd.
Aurora Vista, 21 units, $13 million to develop out of the former Riviera Motel at 11892 Beach Blvd.
The three developments all finished their renovations in recent months.
Guevera toured the Clara Vista apartments during construction and said she felt comfortable moving in since the studio she would get was around 500 square feet, had a kitchen and came partially furnished with a bed and dresser. At the shelter, there was no privacy with shared rooms and bathrooms.
After moving in, Guevera slept so much that first week that she “felt like Rip Van Winkle,” she said.
Local leaders celebrating the new communities called the complexes a dream for the city and a strong strategy in combating the homelessness crisis.
Councilmember Carol Warren said any concerns that the new apartments would “run the city down and would be terrible” were proven wrong.
“All these other cities that have this hands-off attitude have gotta change. They do,” she said. “These are wonderful projects that are win-win for everyone involved.”
“Everybody thought this ‘would be bad for my neighborhood,’” Mayor David Shawver said. “But today we proved them wrong.”
The nonprofit Jamboree Housing Corporation will manage the three communities, each setting aside a single unit for a manager.
Around 7,300 people in the county are homeless, according to data released by OC officials in May. More than 4,100 of those people are living on the streets; less than half are living in shelters or some form of temporary housing.
The three Stanton Homekey communities are all permanent housing communities, and they come with support staff to assist people with various services to remain successfully housed. Rent will be max out at around $700 to $800 per month for all three communities.
Finding new uses for the three aging motels also speaks to the city’s efforts the last several years to revitalize Beach Boulevard, once a major link to the coast for travelers in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Anaheim and Buena Park have joined Stanton leaders in efforts to improve the corridor by reducing sources of blight and crime and improving its economic outlook. Both cities have purchased and demolished several Beach Boulevard motels over the last several years, including to make room for more affordable housing.
Councilmember Gary Taylor called the new complexes a dream for Stanton and said the projects were the right idea to push for – all the votes for the Homekey sites were unanimous, he added.
Tim Lawless, with the California Department of Housing and Community Development, said Homekey has awarded $3.4 billion in funding to 250 projects across the state in three years, which will create 15,000 housing units.
Lawless, who oversees the Homekey program, noted that there are 40,000 units of affordable housing in the pipeline in California. While there will likely be less money for housing as the state works to find places to cut spending for its new budget, housing and homelessness remain top priorities for the Newsom administration, he said.
Proposition 1, passed in the March primary election, will provide an additional $2 billion for Homekey, with more than half of that set aside for veterans. More than 300 of those counted this year among OC’s homeless are veterans.
Guevera, who was born in Fullerton, fell into homeless after financial struggles in the 2010s, she said. Now she’s going to be working as a certified nursing assistant and has a roof over her head.
People need to have compassion, she said, when they see someone who is homeless.
“We are more than just statistics,” Guevera said. “We are people with dreams and hope.”
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