Psychological torture by Fontana police shakes public confidence

• May 29, 2024

As first reported by the Southern California News Group’s Tony Saavedra, the city of Fontana has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit over the degrading and unconscionable actions of their city’s police officers.

In August 2018, Thomas Perez Jr. called police to report his father missing. Thomas Perez Sr. had gone on a walk with the family dog. After about ten minutes, the dog returned to home, but the father was missing.

Thomas Perez Jr. was then taken to an interrogation room, where detectives grilled him for many hours on end with accusations that he had in fact killed his father.

According to the lawsuit, Sergeant David Janusz told Perez “your father is dead,” that his body had been found, and that “he has a toe tag on him.”

The officers also brought in the family dog and told Perez to “say goodbye” to the dog because it would be euthanized as a stray.

“Because of [the officers’] actions in telling [Mr. Perez] that his father had been murdered, accusing [Mr. Perez] of committing that murder, brutally interrogating Plaintiff for hours, seizing [Mr. Perez’s] possessions, and sending [Mr. Perez’s] dog off to be euthanized,” the lawsuit explains, he “suffered extreme emotional distress.”

The officers had been told he had been prescribed medications for “depression, stress, asthma, and high blood pressure,” but took their time in allowing him to take his medications.

Amid this psychological torture, Perez offered a false confession that he had in fact murdered his father.

Perez Sr., it turned out, was alive and was at the airport going to visit his daughter.

“Mentally torturing a false confession out of Tom Perez, concealing from him that his father was alive and well, and confining him in the psych ward because they made him suicidal, in my 40 years of suing the police I have never seen that level of deliberate cruelty by the police,” Jerry Steering, Perez’s attorney, told Saavedra.

The case was settled for $900,000 in part out of concern the city would prevail thanks to the horrific doctrine of “qualified immunity,” which provides abusive police officers protections from civil liability.

The Perez family deserves every penny and more after their horrific treatment by the Fontana police department.

Saavedra notes that three of the four officers named in the lawsuit continue to work for the city, while another has since retired. All, of course, are highly compensated and stand to earn lucrative pensions.

According to Transparent California, Janusz, for instance, received total pay of $244,386 in 2022 and $75,092 in benefits, not counting his total pension debts to taxpayers.

The officers should feel deep shame for the rest of their lives for what they have done. Thanks to them, public confidence in local law enforcement takes another hit.

Some day, Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court must eliminate qualified immunity from the books. No one should be above the law. Officers who unconstitutionally trample the rights of the people should be held accountable directly for what they chose to do.

​ Orange County Register 

Summer songs: Going back 40 and 50 years to revisit top tracks of 1974 and 1984

• May 29, 2024

Summertime, and the listening is easy, songs are rockin’ and the volume is high. Which is to say, it’s time to talk about songs of summers past.

Songs of the summer anchor us in a time and place. You remember who your friends were, what you did, and where you went.

There are absolutely people this summer who will always remember their love for Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” or Billie Eilish’s “Lunch,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” or Post Malone and Morgan Wallen‘s “I Had Some Help.”

It’s too early to evaluate those, though. Come back in 40 or 50 years when I, or some AI simulation, will tell you how the summer and history turned out for those songs.

This, though, we know: The Summer of ’74 was wild, man, with classic songs alongside some ‘what-were-we-thinking?’ tunes. The Summer of ’84 was much better, with breakthroughs by a number of artists still relevant today.

(And what of 1994? Check out our piece on the classic albums of that year celebrating their anniversary in 2024 here: https://bit.ly/3VjWROD.)

Summer songs are in the ears of the beholder. I picked 10 songs for each year, and yes, your list might differ. But I did try to cast a wide net and survey as much as personal memory and online research turned up.

So tune in, and drop out of 2024 for the spin of the dial through summers past.

Summer songs of ’74

“Band on the Run,” Paul McCartney & Wings / Released in April, peaked at No. 1 in June

“Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash, as we fell into the sun!” Oh my, what a terrific song this is. A suite in miniature, it opens with our heroes in the band sorrowful for their confinement, shifts into a second movement making plans for breaking out, and then, pow! Two minutes and 22 seconds into the song’s 5:13 run time, they’re off, and we’re off too, singing, “And the first one said to the second one there, I hope you’re having fun. Ba-a-nd on the run!”

“Billy, Don’t Be a Hero,” Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods / Released in April, peaked at No. 1 in June

“Billy, don’t be a hero, don’t be a fool with your life!” There was a time when I would, uninvited, entertain a party with my rendition of this classic. (I never did figure out why everyone’s drinks needed refilling just then.) There’s no rule, you know, that a summer song has to be good. It just to be memorable, and that’s what we had here. “Billy, don’t be a hero, come back and make me your wife!”

“Rock The Boat,” the Hues Corporation / Released in May, peaked at No. 1 in July

“So I’d like to know where you got the notion …”. Not only was this a call to the dance floor the moment the needle dropped, it’s also considered by some to be the first disco song to top the charts. A perennial favorite at weddings and parties in Ireland, it’s so beloved there’s a dance fans do, as seen on Netflix’s “Derry Girls,” that includes sitting on the floor to rock an imaginary boat. “Rock the boat, don’t rock the boat, baby.”

“Annie’s Song,” John Denver / Released in June, peaked at No. 1 in July and August

“You fill up my senses, like a night in a forest …’: We’ll confess we considered making up a rule that a summer song had to have more oomph than this limp little love song has. It’s just so … weak. But according to Billboard, this baby was the biggest cumulative hit of the summer of ’74. Maybe it was the come-down from the Vietnam War, Watergate and all needed something soft on the ears. “You fill up my senses, come fill me again.”

“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” by Elton John / Released in May, peaked at No. 2 in July

“I’d just allow a fragment of your life to wander free.” Exhibit A in the case against “Annie’s Song”: It blocked this Elton John classic at No. 2 in the summer of ’74. It’s a beautiful, melancholy song with some of John and lyricist Bernie Taupin‘s most poetic work of the period. Gorgeous piano, glorious harmonies, it remained a staple of John’s sets thereafter. “But losin’ everything is like the sun goin’ down on me”

“Feel Like Makin’ Love,” by Roberta Flack / Released  in June, peaked at No. 1 in August

“Strollin’ in the park, watchin’ winter turn to spring.” Now this is how you do a soft summer song. Flack’s mellow vibes are as cool as a summer breeze, and the love song here is something you’d play at a party or for your special lady or dude in the mood. It was also No. 1 for five weeks on the Hot Soul Singles, so, yeah, it was huge that summer. “Ooh-oo-oo, that’s the time, I feel like makin’ dreams come true.”

“The Night Chicago Died,” by Paper Lace / Released in June, peaked at No. 1 in August

“In the heat of the summer night, in the land of the dollar bill.” A fitting bookend to ‘Billy, Don’t Be a Hero,” both as guilty pleasures but also authorship: Paper Lace wrote and recorded “Billy,” which flopped, only for Bo Donaldson to take it No. 1. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was not a fan, his rep suggesting that the band “jump in the Chicago River, placing your heads under water three times and surfacing twice.” “Brother what a night it really was.”

“Tell Me Something Good,” by Rufus / Released in April, peaked at No. 3 in August

“You ain’t got no feeling insi-i-de …”. Stevie Wonder wrote this and gave it to Rufus for his friend Chaka Khan to sing, and man, does she sing it. After this hit, the band changed its name to Rufus and Chaka Khan. The funky wah-wah guitar, one of the very uses of a guitar talk box, and just a groove that lasts all day long. “Tell me something good, tell me that you like it, yeah.”

‘Waterloo,’ by ABBA / Released in March, peaked at No. 6 in August

“Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war.” The breakout single from ABBA, “Waterloo” uses Napoleon’s fateful defeat as a metaphor for a love affair. They’re Swedish, they knew their European history, and, smartly, that might have helped win the Eurovision Contest in 1974. To American audiences, that didn’t matter as much as the bouncy run of the up-tempo ballad. “Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore.”

*(You’re) Having My Baby,” by Paul Anka and Odia Coates / Released in June, peaked at No. 1 in August and September

“What a lovely way of saying how much you love me.” People loved this song, and yes, I can sing this at your party, too. There’s no defense for how bad it is other than that Anka really loved his wife and their four daughters, all of whom it was inspired. Interesting side note: One of Anka’s daughters Amanda is married to actor Jason Bateman. “I’m a woman in love, and I love what it’s doing to me.”

Also on the Summer of ’74 jukebox: “Sundown,” by Gordon Lightfoot; “Rock Your Baby,” by George McCrae; “Hollywood Swinging,” by Kool and the Gang; “I Shot the Sheriff,” by Eric Clapton; “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” Barry White

Summer songs of ’84

“Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” by Phil Collins / Released in February, peaked at No. 1 in April and May

“How can I just let you walk away? Just let you leave without a trace.” Phil Collins’ moody ballad from the film of the same name connected deeply listeners, in part due to the massive clout the still-new MTV had on the pop chart then. The song became Collins’ first U.S. No. 1, bumping Kenny Loggins’ springtime hit “Footloose” off the top spot. “And you comin’ back to me is against all odds, It’s the chance I’ve gotta take.”

“Relax,” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood / Released in March, peaked at No. 67 in May, but …

“Relax, don’t do it, when you want to go to it.” The English duo’s innuendo-filled single didn’t make it far up the Billboard 100, but listeners to KROQ-FM in Southern California heard it in heavy rotation. It was voted the alternative rock station’s No. 1 song of 1984 in a year-end listeners poll. And if there were a poll of popular T-shirts that summer, those white “Frankie Say Relax” tees were pretty popular. “Got to hit me (hit me!), hit me with those laser beams.”

“Time After Time,” by Cyndi Lauper / Released in March, peaked at No. 1 in June

“Lyin’ in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you.” Cyndi Lauper‘s debut single, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” climbed to No. 2 at the end of 1983 and start of 1984. This ballad, which Lauper co-wrote, not only did that one better, one better being all there was to do, it’s also become her signature song even more than its predecessor. (Even jazz legend Miles Davis covered it.) “If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me. Time after time.”

“The Reflex,” by Duran Duran / Released in April, peaked at No. 1 in June

“Oh, why-y-y-y don’t you use it? Try not to bruise it.” The glamourous synth-fueled rock of Duran Duran was at its peak in the early ’80s, but it was “The Reflex,” not songs such as “Hungry Like the Wolf” or “Rio,” to achieve their first No. 1 in the U.S. Simon Le Bon’s vocals sparkle as the rest of the band race to the finish in fine form. “The reflex is a lonely child who’s waiting by the park / The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark.”

“Dancing in the Dark,” by Bruce Springsteen / Released in May, peaked at No. 2 in July

“You can’t start a fire. You can’t start a fire without a spark.” The debut single from “Born In The USA” lit the fuse for Bruce Springsteen‘s rocket into superstardom. It was blocked from No. 1 by “The Reflex” and the next song on this list. In this classic age of MTV, the music video was directed by filmmaker Brian De Palma with an unknown Courteney Cox featured. “This gun’s for hire, even if we’re just dancing in the dark.”

“When Doves Cry,” by Prince / Released in May, peaked at No. 1 in July and August

“Dig, if you will, the picture, of you and I engaged in a kiss.” Even more than “Born in the USA” boosted Springsteen’s fame, the release of the film and soundtrack to Prince‘s “Purple Rain” transformed him into a global superstar. This song, written in one night to fit a scene in the movie, is classic Prince, funky, sexy, and cool as cool can be. “Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like when doves cry.”

“Eyes Without a Face,” by Billy Idol / Released in May, peaked at No. 4 in July

“I’m all out of hope. One more bad break could bring a fall.” Billy Idol‘s first single off “Rebel Yell” was its title track, a hard rocking number like “Dancing With Myself” and “White Wedding” before it. Here, though, he slowed things down with a ballad that still finds space for some meaty guitar riffing by his musical partner Steve Stevens. “Eyes without a face, got no human grace, your eyes without a face.”

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“State of Shock,” by the Jacksons with Mick Jagger / Released in June, peaked at No. 3 in August

“She looks so great every time I see her face.” Two things you must know about this song. First, when it was released on June 5, 1984, DJs at KIQQ (100.3 FM) decided it would be fun to play it over and over again. And they did, for 22 consecutive hours. Second, the Insane Clown Posse has covered it. Juggalos! Can I get a “Whoop Whoop”? “She put me in a state, a state of shock.”

“People Are People,” by Depeche Mode / Released in March, peaked at No. 13 in August

“People are people, so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully?” Here’s another one that Southern Californians surely heard more than the rest of the nation thanks to KROQ’s alternative rock programming. The British electronic band Depeche Mode uses everything in its toolbox – melancholy vocals, clanging percussion – as well as ever it did. “I can’t understand what makes a man hate a man, help me understand.”

“What’s Love Got to Do with It,” by Tina Turner / Released in May, peaked at No. 1 in September

“What’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a second-hand emotion?” Tina Turner‘s well-deserved comeback started with the 1984 album “Private Dancer,” and this single from the record was a large part of her success. Sultry and sleek, the modern pop instrumentation behind Turner’s powerhouse vocals still thrills. “What’s love got to do, got to do with it? Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

Also on the Summer of ’84 jukebox: “Cruel Summer;” by Bananarama, “Hello,” by Lionel Richie; “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” by Deniece Williams; “Drive,” by the Cars; “The Longest Time,” by Billy Joel; “Sister Christian,” by Night Ranger; “Jump (For My Love),” by the Pointer Sisters; “The Warrior,” by Scandal featuring Patti Smyth; and, because bustin’ makes me feel good, “Ghostbusters,” by Ray Parker Jr.

​ Orange County Register 

Verizon invests $100 million in wireless connectivity from space

• May 29, 2024

By Loren Grush | Bloomberg

AST SpaceMobile shares surged as much as 46% after Verizon Communications Inc. said it will invest $100 million in a partnership with the satellite communications company to provide wireless connectivity from space.

AST announced a similar partnership with AT&T Inc. two weeks ago. Now with both deals in hand, the Midland, Texas-based company said it will be able to provide 100% coverage of the continental US from smartphones to its future planned satellite system. Its system will use radio frequencies allotted to the two telecom giants by the Federal Communications Commission.

The partnership marks a rare move for Verizon and AT&T, as the two join forces with the same aerospace company in a bid to challenge Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Musk’s company announced a similar agreement with T-Mobile US Inc. in 2022.

Shares of AST rose as high as $7.80 on Wednesday in New York. Shares of Verizon and AT&T were little changed following the announcement.

“This partnership will enhance cellular connectivity in the United States, essentially eliminating dead zones and empowering remote areas of the country with space-based connectivity,” Abel Avellan, founder and chief executive officer of AST, said in a statement.

The deals by the two telecom companies represent a shared commitment to expanding space-based wireless service, said Chris Brown, head of network for AT&T. “Together with AST SpaceMobile we have agreed to welcome another mobile operator in the US to bring in more spectrum and more coverage to create an even better solution and enhance service capabilities,” he said. “With AST and the other partners around the globe we are shaping the future of connectivity for all.”

AST is one of a handful of companies trying to use low-orbiting satellites to provide connectivity to regular consumers via smartphones, a market often referred to as “direct-to-cell.”

SpaceX is pursuing the market with its massive Starlink system, which boasts roughly 6,000 satellites in orbit around the Earth. T-Mobile is providing its government-regulated radio frequencies to Starlink for their partnership, and the companies started testing of the service this year on some satellites.

Verizon will provide AST with $65 million in commercial prepayments, much of it subject to certain conditions. The additional $35 million will come in the form of convertible notes.

AST has a 693-square-foot satellite, BlueWalker 3, in orbit, after launching it on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2022. Eventually, the company plans to provide global cellular coverage with a system of 168 satellites in low-Earth orbit. The company plans to ship its first five commercial satellites to Florida this summer for launch.

​ Orange County Register 

Travel: There’s more to Nassau in the Bahamas than a nice beach

• May 29, 2024

If you’re much of a traveler, by now you’ve seen ads or at least heard about the Atlantis Paradise Island mega-resort in the Bahamas with its tall pink towers, 14 pools, 141-acre water park, marine mammal habitat, 21 restaurants, casino, bars, golf course and miles of beaches. This signature resort in Nassau put the Bahamas on the tourism map.

But there’s much more to Nassau that is not Atlantis. The island nation off Florida’s east coast has a long and rich history that is often overlooked by tourists eager to hit the beach. Cultural and historical sites around Nassau offer a glimpse into the small Caribbean nation with a colonial past whose local people — the descendants of slaves — have kept their own traditions alive.

Tourism is the main industry in the Bahamas, an archipelago of nearly 700 islands — all but about 30 of them uninhabited — and former British colony. Boating, scuba diving and water sports are popular activities throughout the islands. You can also tour a pineapple farm on Eleuthera, visit a historic red and white striped lighthouse built in the 1860s on The Abacos, or rent a house and hit the beach every day. Fried conch fritters and hot conch chowder are local specialties made with the meat of the Queen conch shell.

The Queen’s Staircase, also called the 66 Steps, was carved out of solid limestone rock by about 600 hundred slaves between 1793 and 1794 to provide a direct route from Fort Fincastle to the lower city of Nassau. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

My husband and I took a short cruise to the Bahamas in early April, departing from Miami with stops in Key West and Nassau. In Nassau, we took a city tour in a large, open Jeep accommodating eight guests to discover the island’s past. Our first stop was at the Queen’s Staircase, also referred to as the 66 steps. This landmark was carved out of solid limestone rock by about 600 hundred slaves between 1793 and 1794 to provide a direct route from Fort Fincastle, which is located on the island’s highest point, to the lower city. The steps honor Queen Victoria, the Britain monarch who reigned from 1837 to 1901 and who abolished slavery in the British colonies. We walked down the steps and marveled at the difficult effort it must have taken to carve this monument out of the limestone using only hand tools.

British Lord Dunmore built Fort Charlotte in Nassau in 1789 to protect the Bahamas from invasion by other European nations and pirate attacks. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

In the late 1700s, Europeans vied for control of the Caribbean. The British colonized the Bahamas. Fearing an invasion by other European nations as well as pirate attacks, they built forts Fincastle, Montagu and Charlotte, all of which remain standing today. We toured Fort Charlotte, the largest of the three forts. It’s surrounded by an empty moat and is located on a bluff overlooking the harbor and cruise port. We strolled over the drawbridge, explored the claustrophobic underground passageways and store rooms, and photographed the cannons that were never fired. Fort Charlotte was built in 1789 by Lord Dunmore and named after the wife of King George III. There’s also a dungeon and ramparts. The other two forts in Nassau also are open to the public.

The Educulture Junkanoo Museum in Nassau features costumes used in annual Bahamian festivals that began as a celebration of slaves getting three days off for Christmas. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

Another noteworthy stop on our tour was the Educulture Junkanoo Museum, a bright yellow little house filled with costumes from the annual Bahamian festivals called Junkanoo. Think Mardi Gras — large, homemade costumes fashioned from paper and cardboard and adorned with sequins, worn by dancers beating drums and shaking cowbells during boisterous parades through the town, with costumes being judged along the parade route. The staff gave a delightful presentation, and we enjoyed learning about this unique Bahamian tradition.

The Bahamian tradition of Junakanoo began as a temporary celebration of freedom for slaves who were given three days off for Christmas. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

The museum’s website explains Junkanoo this way: “What once began as a temporary celebration of freedom for slaves who were given three days off for Christmas, soon blossomed into an exuberant, colorful parade called Junkanoo. … The Educulture Junkanoo Museum is the brainchild of Arlene Nash Ferguson, an expert on Bahamian culture and traditions. Having participated in Junkanoo parades from the age of four, and having served on the National Junkanoo Committee for 24 years, she wanted to honor the traditions of her heritage.”

Instruments used in Junkanoo celebrations are on display at the Educulture Junkanoo Museum and Resource Centre in Nassau. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

Nash established the Educulture Junkanoo Museum in her childhood home, where visitors can see colorful costumes and learn how they’re made. “Staged from room to room in their repurposed home, the museum’s exhibits depict an informative and interesting history of Junkanoo and the Bahamas, featuring costume pieces, traditional fabrics, music, and more. The Educulture Junkanoo Museum also offers a memorable interactive experience where you can make colorful masks, dance to Bahamian music, and maybe even meet a Junkanoo queen,” the website says.

The John Watling Distillery, which opened in the elegant Buena Vista Estate in 2013, produces hand-crafted rum and offers tours. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

Finally, we visited the John Watling Distillery, located in the elegant Buena Vista Estate built in 1789 and featured in the James Bond Film “Casino Royale.” Since 2013, the estate overlooking the harbor has been home to a hand-crafted rum distillery where workers do all the bottling and labeling by hand. The distillery is named for Watling, a 17th century privateer often called “the Gentlemen Pirate.”

Historic photos show the mansion’s colorful past. It has served as a home for local wealthy and prominent Colonial government officials, a Colonial government building, and in more modern times a restaurant and hotel frequented by royals, politicians and celebrities. Rum has long been a part of life and culture in the Bahamas (like other Caribbean islands), where rum was distilled from sugar cane and smuggled into the United States during Prohibition. After the tour, we visited the distillery tavern. (No way were we leaving the famous distillery without trying the local product.) I enjoyed a refreshing and delicious Piña Colada while my husband savored a fruity rum punch, both made with the distillery’s signature amber rum.

Workers at the John Watling Distillery do all of the bottling and labeling by hand. (Photo by Amy Bentley)

As for Key West, we’ve been there previously and love this charming historic town. A great way to experience Key West in one day is on the Conch Tour Train, which hits all the interesting places. The driver discusses Key West’s colorful past, including the history of writer Ernest Hemingway and President Harry S. Truman on the island, the ship salvage “wreckers,” and Henry Flagler’s infamous railroad to the Keys that was wiped out by a hurricane in 1935.

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Or, you can walk, rent a golf cart or taxi to any of the many historic places and museums to including the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens; the Custom House, an art and history museum; Hemingway’s home; Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park; the Harry S. Truman Little White House; the Key West Aquarium; the Butterfly & Nature Conservatory; the Lighthouse Museum; and the Shipwreck Treasures Museum, among others. For shopping and dining, Mallory Square boasts many unique open-air shops and you can stroll the infamous Duval Street, where Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville store sells fun merchandise.

Key West and the Bahamas are easily reached by cruise ship or by flying into Tampa or Miami and catching a connecting flight. For history buffs, a city tour in Nassau is a must.

You can still stay at Atlantis and enjoy the beach.

​ Orange County Register 

Crisis in Gaza revives student activism that some considered long gone

• May 5, 2024

“Is activism dead?”

Juxtapose that question about student advocacy with the large demonstrations and tent encampments that have taken over college campuses across the country in recent weeks, and it seems the answer is a resounding no.

Encampments — where students have erected tents, tailgating canopies and makeshift barricades — have seemingly exploded on college campuses across the nation in recent weeks. Students are protesting, calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and an end to universities’ financial ties with certain Israeli companies.

Many have been peaceful — at Chapman University in Orange on Friday, fewer than a dozen tents made up an encampment where students wrote letters and chanted. On some campuses, police have been called to break up encampments or remove students who have taken over buildings and prevented other students from accessing classrooms or libraries.

But at a few other places, that hasn’t been the case; at UCLA last week, counter-protesters engaged in a violent clash with demonstrators.

College campuses were once the epicenter for activism and demonstration — particularly during the Vietnam War era.

In more recent years, however, campuses have been quieter. That question – “Is activism dead?” – was a thoughtful one when it was posed by USC’s student newspaper, the Daily Trojan, seven years ago as part of a project exploring diversity on campus.

But that was 2017, before the militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack in Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting another 250.

Related links

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Before Israel unleashed its retaliatory siege; before the death toll in Gaza skyrocketed to an estimated 34,500 people.

And before the arrests of more than 2,300 people on American college campuses in recent weeks, among them protesters at USC and UCLA.

A kaleidoscope of tents

So why did — seemingly in the blink of an eye — college students take on the mantle of decrying what they perceive as injustice in a small area in another hemisphere?

While there’s something to be said about the rapidity of the encampments cropping up on campuses across the U.S., the issue itself — turmoil in the Middle East, debate over who the “good guys” are and even if there are any — has percolated for quite some time. The conflict between Israel and Palestine can be traced back to the late 19th century.

But now there’s media, particularly social media, and students are quickly and easily and often seeing images from the atrocities of the war.

“It’s a very visual tipping point,” said Rebecca Dolhinow, a Cal State Fullerton professor whose research includes youth social justice activism. “Students are back on campus and they’re feeling more comfortable here with the COVID threat less and less imminent.”

Organizers of demonstrations at Southern California campuses are using Instagram to list their objectives and demands, request specific supplies, share resources on legal rights and de-escalation techniques and advertise schedules for speakers. They’re also trading tips, what worked on their campuses, and are promoting other schools’ demonstrations.

This generation of college students, said David Foster, a history professor at the University of Kansas who studies activism in America, “has come to believe in a kind of Manichean world,” where there are only two sides to an issue, a dual struggle between good and evil.

“They tend to see the world in oppressors and the oppressed, and that’s good in a lot of ways,” said Foster.

“There’s an incredible sense of injustice here, and people are really appalled,” Dolhinow said. “It is something that for a lot of students, who otherwise aren’t keen on partisan politics, feel like this is a human rights issue, and they may not want to step out on abortion, may not want to step out on something else, but they feel they have to step out on this because it’s simply wrong.”

And Israel, Foster said, “has come to be a stand-in in international politics for a lot of students,” he said, as “a bad nation, maybe even an evil nation, in the eyes of some young people who are progressive.”

Back to the beginning

The right to protest, especially historically, is an integral part of the college experience, said Graham Piro with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit that protects free speech rights on college campuses.

“In many ways, being in college is how you prepare to participate in American society when you graduate,” Piro said. “And the First Amendment gives us the right to voice our concerns.”

Students infamously exercised those rights in the ’60s and ’70s, staging large protests in opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Massive demonstrations sprung up on campuses across the country, including here in Southern California, but were more “militant” and “violent” compared to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations now, said Robert Cohen, an NYU history professor and expert in student activism.

ROTC buildings were torched; students got hurt — or worse. Saturday marked 54 years since the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed anti-war student demonstrators at Kent State, killing four students and injuring another nine people.

Students championed other causes around that time as well.

In 1967, UC Irvine had been open for less than two years before students organized a protest on its Gateway Plaza.

UC President Clark Kerr, a defender of free speech and debate on college campuses, had been fired by the Regents. Pictures from Jan. 27, 1967, show a large group of students rallying in support of Kerr.

Rewind some 30 years, and in 1934, more than 3,000 UCLA students took to Royce Quad in protest of the suspension of five students for alleged communist ties. That was about half the student population at the time, according to press archives, and the students were eventually allowed to return to school.

At UC Riverside, students protested during a visit from then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1970. They clashed with police and threw avocados and oranges, longtime political science professor Ron Loveridge recalled.

And then there were, at many UC schools, protests in solidarity with the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in the 1960s.

Notably, though, USC, a private school, does not have that same reputation for campus activism.

As Zev Yaroslavsky, a former L.A. County supervisor who graduated from UCLA, recently told the New York Times: “This is not the first university you think of when you think of protests and occupying the central quad and confronting the police. Berkeley and Harvard? Sure. But USC?”

But it was there, at USC, where nearly 100 people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest at Alumni Park on April 24.

A week later, more than 200 protesters were arrested at a Palestine Solidarity Encampment at UCLA.

There is certainly no question about the vitality of student activism — at USC or anywhere — today.

“Student activism, for much of the time I’ve been studying it, is something that’s been almost dormant. It’s not been full-throttled since, say, the Vietnam era,” said Dolhinow.

Sure, there have been causes young people have been passionate about in more recent years: police brutality, particularly in the wake of George Floyd‘s death in 2020; and the #MeToo movement that shed light on sexual harassment and assault and the abuse of power.

But those demonstrations were largely community-led rather than organized by college students, Dolhinow said. In recent years, student-led protests centered more on campus issues, like abuse by a faculty member or a problem within a department.

In 2014, for example, UCLA students held a demonstration after racist fliers were sent to Asian departments at both the Westwood campus and at USC.

“This isn’t something that happened here” in the U.S., Dolhinow said of the catalyst for the current demonstrations. “We’re protesting events that happened in another country, and a lot of students don’t know where this part of the world is. … They couldn’t put their finger on Israel on a map without help.”

What does success look like?

Rapidity aside, Foster and other experts liken the pro-Palestinian demonstrations to the South African anti-apartheid divestment movement that took off in the ’80s. Students then wanted their schools to cut financial ties with companies that supported South Africa.

Students “tried to make visible a problem that too few Americans understood,” said Foster. “And they did that by literally being visible, by creating encampments.”

But success — if there is any — may look different for the current crop of student activists.

“I don’t think they’re going to win their demands for divestment in most places,” said Cohen, the NYU professor.

“Unlike the anti-apartheid movement, there was no ‘apartheid constituency’ in the U.S.,” Cohen said of the previous movement. “But there is still strong support for Israel. … That’s not a demand that’s very realistic.”

Recent surveys have found that support for Israel or Palestine largely varies depending on age in the U.S.

About a third of people between 18 and 29 years old said they sided more with Palestinians than Israelis in a recent Pew Research Center poll, compared to 14% who sympathized with Israeli people.

On the other hand, 47% of those surveyed who were at least 65 years old sympathized more with Israelis; only 9% chose Palestinian people.

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But that’s not to say demonstrators won’t have any impact at all, said Cohen.

At Brown University in Rhode Island, an encampment came down last week after university leaders agreed to hear students’ arguments in support of divestment from “companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.”

Closer to home, Pomona College faculty voted in favor of divestment from “corporations complicit with war crimes and other human rights violations committed by the Israeli government in Israel/Palestine.”

Overall, though, divestment is “not a demand that’s very realistic,” said Cohen.

While Cohen considers divestment largely unlikely, he noted that it is an election year, and that’s where students could have a greater, more visible effect.

“They probably will have an impact on politics because (the demonstrations) bring the war to people’s attention because at least some students don’t support the war will have some reservations about supporting President Biden” in November, he said.

​ Orange County Register 

USC encampment cleared in pre-dawn push by LAPD, campus police

• May 5, 2024

A pro-Palestinian encampment in the middle of USC’s main campus was cleared this morning by officers with the Los Angeles Police Department and USC’s Department of Public Safety, ending a high-profile demonstration that began in April.

No arrests or major confrontations were reported.

The encampment clean-up began round 4:30 a.m. although USC Annenberg Media reported at 3:51 a.m. that university police officers told student reporters they planned to come in around 4 a.m. and had set up a staging area for the media, which they alleged was too far away to witness any arrests.

Protesters shouted “Free Palestine” at 4:17 a.m., as officers began surrounding the encampment, Annenberg Media said. At 4:25 a.m., DPS officers gave protesters in the encampment 15 minutes to leave the area before facing arrest.

The officers started at 4:35 a.m. to remove the banners hung by protesters, moving them to the side of the park, Annenberg said. An officer reportedly told Annenberg Media reporters it is “a DPS operation.”

During this time USC officials alerted students that the campus was temporarily closed.

As the clean-up operation proceeded, reporters at the Daily Trojan, USC’s student newspaper, reported seeing “at least 50 Los Angeles Police officers … moving down Trousdale Parkway near the USC campus at around 4:15 a.m. with zip ties, less-lethal launchers and helmets.” The also reported seeing “three police vans, which appear to be used for transporting people who have been arrested.”

A news videographer at the scene said officers pushed 50 to 75 students out of the encampment and off the campus. The officers then cleared out the tents and other gear that was left behind.

The police action came after USC President Carol Folt wrote an open letter to the “Trojan Family” stressing the steps the university was taking to ensure that students can finish finals “in a quiet, safe academic environment — and that our graduating students can enjoy peaceful and joyous commencement ceremonies.”

Folt took a firm stand toward protesters who might continue to be disruptive.

“Let me be absolutely clear,” she wrote in the letter released Friday. “Free speech and assembly do not include the right to obstruct equal access to campus, damage property, or foment harassment, violence, and threats. Nor is anyone entitled to obstruct the normal functions of our university, including commencement.

“… When laws and policies that apply to everyone are repeatedly and flagrantly violated — there must be consequences.”

It is not clear how campus access, which had been restricted to students, faculty and staff for much of the past week, would be impacted now that the encampment has been removed.

USC became a focal point of Southland pro-Palestinian protests following its decision to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech in response to complaints about online posts that critics called antisemitic. USC officials insisted the move was solely a security issue, not a political decision.

As tensions continued mounting — leading to the mass protest April 24 that resulted in 93 arrests — the university eventually opted to cancel its May 10 main stage commencement in Alumni Park altogether, but vowed to move forward with the usual array of smaller satellite graduation ceremonies for the school’s individual colleges.

Those ceremonies are set to begin Wednesday.

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​ Orange County Register 

Electric bills could rise for folks in cooler coastal climes under new plan

• May 5, 2024

Nearly universally loathed: An income-based fixed service charge on electric bills.

It could have exceeded $100 a month for the wealthiest folks, according to early proposals, but “progressive” apparently only goes so far, even here in California.

Electric transmission lines in Chino in January. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Once lawmakers realized they had approved this provision — a handful of paragraphs stuck into a long, last-minute trailer bill in 2022 — howls of rage erupted from Democrats, Republicans, and an irate public-at-large. Lawmakers backed away in nearly stampede-like fashion. Bills to repeal it were floated by legislators from both parties. Flurries of competing proposals were filed with the California Public Utilities Commission.

None of the bills survived. And now, after much gnashing of teeth, tearing of hair and high theatrics, a $24.15 flat, fixed, monthly service charge for all residential customers except the lowest-income Californians goes to the PUC for approval on May 9.

Folks in cool coastal climes would likely see bills increase, while folks in hot inland climes would likely see them decrease, according to the PUC’s in-house Solomon-the-Wise, charged with protecting the little guy.

Opponents call it a “utility tax” and say it’ll inflate costs for working and middle-income folks, with no cap to keep it under control going forward.

Here everyone might stop and take a breath. This is not a rate increase, the PUC insists, trying to raise its voice above the angry din. It is not a tax. It does not impose any new fees. It does not generate new profit for utilities.

“It simply reallocates how existing costs are shared among customers,” the PUC said in its primer when the proposal was announced in March.

“In fact, almost all publicly owned utilities in the state, and most utilities nationwide, use a similar billing structure. This proposal brings California in line with state and national trends.”

A mixed bag, the Sierra Club calls it. While the plan could shave some 10% off of electricity prices, low-income customers with bills below $120 a month could actually end up paying more, its analysis suggests.

The plan also lumps customers making $50,000 a year in with multi-millionaires, all paying that same $24 monthly charge. That  cuts against the income-graduated demand approved by the Legislature to begin with.

The deets

California utilities have been historically weird about how fixed charges are billed.

The burden for keeping the lights on — paying for transmission wires, transformers, poles, towers, the whole upkeep of the electrical grid that makes modern life possible — has been baked into rates for electricity itself.

So the more power you use, the more you pay for grid upkeep. And the less power you use, the less you pay for grid upkeep.

Conundrum: It costs just as much to get electricity to folks who use little — say, rooftop solar owners who only need grid power at night — as it does to get it to folks who use gob-loads, the thinking goes. Those costs should be spread more evenly, and that’s what this change is all about, officials say.

Under the plan the PUC will vote on May 9, the price of electricity would drop 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt-hour.

That would reduce bills for lower-income folks and those living in hellishly hot parts of the state, the PUC says. It also would advance clean energy goals (by cutting the kilowatt-hour cost, which makes it cheaper to electrify homes and vehicles). If you power your home and vehicles with electricity, you stand to save some $28 to $44 per month, according to the PUC.

If approved, this new “flat rate line item” would kick in in late 2025 and early 2026 for customers of the Big Three investor-owned utilities — Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and Pacific Gas & Electric.

Lower-income Californians would pay lower flat rates of $6 or $12 a month.

In a joint filing, the Big Three said the plan can “generally be seen as a positive first step” towards achieving the Legislature’s goals.

A monthly residential bill from San Diego Gas & Electric. (Rob Nikolewski/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Yes!

The aforementioned PUC Solomon-the-Wise supports the change.

“The current electric rate structure penalizes households that have less control over their electricity use, such as those that live in a hotter region or have more residents under one roof,” said the Public Advocates Office in its analysis.

“Without a flat rate, these households would continue to pay more than their fair share of costs that do not vary by usage, such as costs for utility customer service, energy efficiency programs and activities related to providing basic service. It would also mean that electrifying the transportation and building sectors would be more difficult, as households currently have a disincentive to shift their energy use from fossil fuels to electricity due to high rates.”

The overall impact is modest, its analysis says.

Workers install solar panels on a house in Mission Viejo in 2016 (File Photo by Michael Goulding, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Lower income customers of PG&E would see average savings of some 60 cents to $18.09.  For everyone else, it could range from savings of $6.79 to an increase of $11.50 per month.

Folks in coastal cities in Orange and Los Angeles counties can expect to pay more, as bill increases will be concentrated in cooler climate zones, which already see lower bills compared to statewide averages.

The $24.15 per month flat rate mirrors that of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, one of the nation’s largest public electric utilities.

That compares to $12 at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; $18.21 at the city of Burbank’s electric utility; $30 at the city of Roseville’s electric utility; and $36.09 at the city of Riverside’s utility.

No!

Scores of local officials and consumer groups brand the proposal to restructure bills a “utility tax” and say it will raise costs for millions of working and middle class families.

“Overall, the Utility Tax would increase electricity bills for any Californian who does not use a lot of electricity because they live in an apartment or small home, conserve energy, or have solar,” Stop the Big Utility Tax, a coalition of some 240 groups, said in a prepared statement.

“A Big Utility Tax will keep growing over time, and does nothing to control the high cost of electricity. The Utility Tax is uncapped, which means it will keep rising, along with rates. A big Utility Tax simply adjusts who pays what, but does nothing to address the root causes of high electricity prices.”

Amen to that.

It’s important here to understand how utilities make their money.  As we told you in our recent story about the watchdogs who watch the watchdog that watches the PUC that’s supposed to watch the utilities, electric companies don’t make money from selling electricity. They make money from the return they’re allowed on capital investments. So there’s an incentive for utilities to spend more money on infrastructure than they have to.

“As a former commission president, I know what keeping energy prices down requires,” wrote Loretta Lynch, now an attorney in San Francisco, in a recent essay in the San Francisco Chronicle. “(A) sharp pencil to control relentless spending requests from utilities that allow them to generate more profits, adherence to legal mandates that require it to protect ratepayers and allow only ‘just and reasonable’ costs, and the backbone to just say no to the utilities’ unceasing demands that customers pay for programs that are ineffective or unnecessarily expensive.

“None of this is happening, and Californians should be outraged,” she wrote. “It is up to the state Legislature to inject sanity into the regulatory system and protect California families and businesses from ruinous, undeserved rate increases.

Change!

Consumer groups and the utilities themselves beseech the PUC to adjust the fixed charge proposal in myriad ways.

Some want low-income customers to pay nothing.

Some want more tiers at the top, so wealthier Californians pay more than their middle-class brethren.

Some want the fixed charge to be higher.

Some want this or that to be factored in to the fixed charge.

Some want this or that to be excluded from the fixed charge.

There have been dozens upon dozens of “exparte communications” between PUC officials and interested parties — who are trying to convince regulators that their position is the right one — over the past few weeks.

Many hundreds of public comments have poured in as well. Solar panel owners are particularly incensed.

“Any fixed charge is a breach of contract, for those of us who purchased solar panels and use no net electricity from the grid,” said Randall Stolaruk of Huntington Beach. “This completely changes the cost tradeoff for those who have already made the solar investment to protect against these escalating costs and to help the environment. If you go through with this, I sure hope it’s hauled into the courts….”

Expect fireworks on May 9 — and for a long time thereafter.

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​ Orange County Register 

When a financial plan is no plan at all

• May 5, 2024

When is an estate plan not a plan? When is an estate plan worse than no plan at all?

I wish this was the opening to a fun riddle, but sadly, when estate plans (wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives) are unclear or out of date, it’s never funny, and can often be disastrous.

Said vs. meant to say

More often than I’d like to see, someone has gone to the trouble of having their estate plan created, but they sign the documents without understanding its terms. Sometimes, misunderstandings result because assets or circumstances changed, but the plan was not updated. Sometimes what’s in the documents does not match what mom or dad have told the kids, resulting in hurt feelings and often litigation.

A typical “plan” and sentiment is that a trust is to take care of the surviving spouse if there is one, and then “to my children equally” (often in fancy legal terms like “descendants” and “per stirpes,” both of which sounds like things you’d find in a pharmacy). But what if one child has been living in mom’s house taking care of mom in her final years, and mom has promised to leave that child the house? What if one child has worked in dad’s business and dad has always said to the hard-working child, “One day, this will all be yours”?

If a trust states, “to my children equally,” and says nothing about specific assets to specific children, the trustee’s hands are tied. Thus, in the above house example, the only way the house could be distributed to the caretaking child is if there are enough other assets to give the other children an equally valuable share. Even then, the trustee may need the consent of the other children. If the caregiving child was expecting the house and 1/3 of the other assets, they’re going to be out of luck. This is true even if that child was paying the mortgage on the house, unless the child can prove they were purchasing the house from their parent and thus entitled to some portion of the house as a purchaser rather than an heir.

The bigger problem

Even when a trust says “house to child A,” problems can arise. It should be clear whether child A gets the house “off the top” before all other assets are split among the children, or if child A gets the house as part of their share.

For example, assume dad dies with a trust holding a house worth $600,000, and other assets of $900,000, for a total of $1.5 million in assets.

If child A is getting the house, and the “remainder” (also referred to as “residual”) is going to all three kids equally, then child A gets $900,000 of assets (the house plus one-third of the $900,000 of other assets), and the other children each get $300,000. If, on the other hand, child A has the right to the house as a part of their one-third share, they are only entitled to $500,000 (one-third of $1.5 million) and will need to buy out their siblings’ share of the house.

Without specific terms, whichever way the trustee goes, this trust is likely to be contested by one child or another, and the legal fees will eat up a significant portion of the estate. Probate might have been cheaper.

Timing

When a gift is to be distributed is another important and overlooked issue that can nullify a plan.

If dad is leaving the family business to the child who works in the business, the trust again should make clear if that’s “off the top” or part of that child’s share. But what if dad’s spouse is still alive? Is the surviving spouse meant to continue receiving income from the business? Is the gift only made once both spouses are deceased (particularly a concern with children from different marriages)?

What if the child is no longer working in the business at the time of dad’s death? At the time of surviving spouse’s death? The trust should cover these conditions — e.g., the child only received the business as part of their share of the trust assets, after the surviving spouse has died, and only if the child is still working in the business.

Formula trust

Estate planning attorneys often draft trusts with complicated formulas for how a trust is divided. We do that not because we’re showoffs or charge by the word (that only seems true) but because tax laws change, asset values change, and we don’t know when you’re going to die. But sometimes, if the law changes drastically, or your assets significantly change, these formulas can up-end a plan.

When a trust is drafted, the formula could benefit the surviving spouse (i.e., the largest share under the formula is set aside for the spouse), but as laws and assets change over the years, that could reverse, and the formula may benefit the children more, or perhaps unintentionally reduce a spouse or child’s share to zero.

Make sure you consult with counsel every few years and confirm the formula still works.

Old trusts

If you have a trust that was put in place before 2012 and hasn’t been updated yet, you should have it reviewed. Tax laws have changed significantly, and where pre-2012, it was commonplace that a trust would split into two at the death of the first spouse to save on estate taxes, this is no longer the case. And in fact, splitting the trust into the “old school” two trusts may cause higher income taxes.

An estate plan is a living document for so long as you are a living person. Just as you buy new clothes, move homes, and change your diet and exercise habits, your trust is going to need an update as well. Just like those jeans you wore in high school, a plan is not a plan if it no longer fits you.

Teresa J. Rhyne is an attorney practicing in estate planning and trust administration in Riverside and Paso Robles, CA. She is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Dog Lived (and So Will I)” and “Poppy in The Wild.”  You can reach her at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register