Where are California’s most affordable homes?

• October 10, 2023

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.

Buzz: If you want a quasi-affordable California home, look far from the coast and the big cities.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed third-quarter homebuying affordability stats for 578 big US counties – including 35 California counties, compiled by ATTOM, a real estate data provider.

Topline

First, we ranked the counties on pricing, purchasing power and historical affordability. Then we combined those scorecards.

And, drumroll please … Butte is California’s bargain county. It’s far to the north and home to Chico and the Oroville Dam.

The next county for affordability was Imperial, followed by Humboldt, Tulare and Fresno.

The least affordable county, by this math, was Santa Cruz, Monterey, Orange, San Diego and Alameda.

Details

Let’s get inside those county rankings, noting that there’s plenty of “art” involved in homebuying affordability math.

Pricing: What does it cost?

Tulare County house hunters have it best, in California terms, with a $338,000 median home price that requires an annual income of $83,000 to qualify for a loan with 20% down at prevailing rates and a 28% debt-to-income ratio.

Next was Kern’s $340,000 median, which requires an $86,000 annual income, followed by Imperial’s $355,000 ($87,000 income), Kings’s $359,000 ($89,000), and Butte’s $385,000 ($95,000).

ECONOMIC NEWS: What’s the big trend? Should I be worried? CLICK HERE!

The costliest: Santa Clara County’s $ 1.48 million median requires a $358,000 annual income. San Mateo’s $ 1.47 million requires $356,500 while Marin’s $1.3 million requires $325,500. In San Francisco, the median $1.29 million home requires $319,500 in income, and Santa Cruz’s $1.17 million requires $283,500.

Contrast that to the typical American buyer who paid $319,950 for a home that required $88,000 in pay.

Purchasing power: The gap between estimated payments and wages.

Kern County buyers are in the best shape. The typical mortgage payment,  $2,008 a month, would eat up just 43% of the $4,681 average local wage. Next was Sacramento at 46%, then Tulare, Imperial and Kings counties at 47%.

At the other end of the affordability spectrum, there’s Santa Cruz County. Mortgage payments of $6,614 equals 123% of the $5,390 local wage. That the widest spread in the nation among the 578 US counties tracked by ATTOM

Next lowest by this California affordability yardstick was Monterey at 101% – ranking third-highest nationally. Marin at 100% (No. 4), Orange at 95% (No. 6), and San Luis Obispo at 94% (No. 7).

Yes, homes in these counties create payments that would gobble up a worker’s entire paychecks. That why two incomes – and we’re talking good salaries, too – are a minimum need to be homebuyers in these communities.

Note that the typical nationwide house payment of $2,053 claimed 39% of what a common US worker makes – $5,935.

Historical affordability: How today compares with norms dating to 2005.

San Francisco County is the only one of the 35 California counties with affordability above its 18-year average.

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An 8% improvement largely reflects San Francisco’s cascading home values, which are down 15% from their recent peak. Only one of the 578 US counties had a bigger improvement – Illinois’ tiny Macon County.

Next in California was San Mateo, with affordability 8% below average. Marin was 15% below, Humboldt at 17% below, and Butte at 18% below.

Affordability in Monterey and San Bernardino counties look historically the worst at 33% below their norms. Then comes Riverside and Kern at 32% below.

Nationally, affordability’s hurting, too, off 31% from the US average.

Bottom line

Look what the pandemic era did to California house hunters as both prices and mortgage rates soared.

The median house payment in the 35 counties was $3,658 in the third quarter. That’s up 68% since the end of 2019 – when few knew what coronavirus was.

California’s highest payment among the counties was $8,351 (Santa Clara) – up 49% since 2019. But the low payment of $1,931 (Tulare) reflects an 81% increase.

So California “bargains” are getting far pricier.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

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​ Orange County Register 

Homeless Fullerton students need a home, so these 8th graders are building one

• October 10, 2023

To eighth-grader Marina Damitio, building a tiny home for an unhoused family is more than just a regular school assignment — it’s becoming her passion.

At Nicolas Junior High in Fullerton, a woodshop class comprised of 22 eighth-graders has been diving into the world of construction by building a 192-square-foot tiny home that will provide a living space for an unhoused family in the Fullerton School District.

Once completed, the home will be fully furnished, complete with a kitchen, bathroom and living space for around three family members to reside.

The tiny home will serve as a temporary residence for a chosen Fullerton School District student and their family who are receiving assistance from the district under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law meant to support the education of homeless students.

“I absolutely love working on this project,” said Damitio. “Since beginning the process of constructing the home, I have learned so much about how to build something and what it takes to produce something good for a family. It has made me realize that I want to work in construction when I am older.”

The district is in the process of selecting a family to receive the home, said Jeremy Davis, the assistant superintendent of Innovation and Instructional Support for the district and one of the many leaders on the project, but he is excited for the day they can hand the keys over.

The home will be located on a small strip of land located on the Orangethorpe Elementary School campus.

“We are hoping that once we finish this tiny home, a second one can be placed right next to the first, also being built by students at Nicolas,” said Davis.

Although there is no explicit timeline for when the tiny home will be finished, Davis said he believes the main bulk of the construction is expected to be completed in May, and the district will then host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the student’s accomplishments.

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And the district will work with local organizations ultimately to transition that family to a permanent residence as well, Davis said.

This project does not just involve the woodshop students, said Davis. The Nicolas student body is creating a documentary that will walk with the students constructing the home step-by-step, highlighting the highs and lows of tackling a project like this.

“We want students involved in every aspect of the building process,” said Davis. “It’s not just ‘go paint’ — it’s a hands-on experience where students can learn real-life skills while also assisting in a great cause.”

And it isn’t just a Nicolas project. At nearby Parks Junior High, a small group of students who have an interest in politics will present the project to the Fullerton City Council in the coming months to draw more support for the cause. Other students from various Fullerton School District campuses will help to furnish the home when the construction is finished later in the school year.

The tiny home project originated last year by the Innovation and Instructional Support team in the district.

“We were asked to think of something outside the box,” said Davis, “something that will impact more than just the school itself.”

Davis said five different ideas were presented to the district, but the tiny home project was chosen as the best fit.

The funding for this project has been fully provided from local support, including grants from nonprofits Fullerton Education Foundation and Wilson W. Phelps Foundation. Additional support has come from the Hope Center of Orange County, community group Orange County United, public relations firm Idea Hall, Pathways of Hope and Ganahl Lumber.

“Our vision is to provide opportunities for self-discovery and skill development to students in the trades,” said Monica Torres, executive board director of the Fullerton Education Foundation. “Through the process of building a tiny home from scratch to completion, students are exposed to a variety of trade disciplines and are empowered to identify possible future career paths.”

Woodshop instructor Mucio Vidales has been spearheading this initiative since it was presented to him last year.

“One day, the district came to me with a really great idea, and after working with the district and students, it has really come together,” said Vidales. “The support has been truly incredible. It gives the kids motivation to continue pursuing this project and seeing it through to the end.”

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Now, Vidales said, the students are working on smaller-scale models of the home to see how the building process will work as well as ensure the students are up for the challenge. For practice, students have also built a framework for a shed, learning different woodshop skills needed to eventually complete the tiny home.

“There are students who I have seen really thrive with this project,” said Vidales. “You can really recognize the students who want to work hard on this and feel passionate towards the home.”

“Seeing us all work together to make the home is the best part,” said Damitio. “In order to make sure this gets done, teamwork is needed. All of us working together and growing together is what will make this possible.”

Progress of the tiny home project can be followed on the school’s website where Davis said people will see the work the students are doing and add support of their own.

​ Orange County Register 

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified will consider a parental notification policy

• October 10, 2023

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District is the next California district to discuss a parental notification policy.

While several districts in California have adopted in recent months policies to inform parents if their child may be transgender, the PYLUSD proposal — as it’s written for the Tuesday, Oct. 10 meeting — does not specifically mention gender identity.

As the policy is written, a designated school counselor would notify a student’s family within 24 hours if they have a “reasonable cause to believe that an action of a student will avert a clear and present danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the student and others around them.”

“Due to the current nationwide mental health crisis exacerbated by the global pandemic, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District recognizes the need for frequent, ongoing and oftentimes immediate communication between school administration, staff, and parents/guardians,” the policy says. “Furthermore, with reports of depression, anxiety and suicide rates at an all-time high among public school students, action is needed to address this emerging crisis and support the health and welfare of district students.”

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The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting says the policy comes at the request of Superintendent Alex Cherniss.

When asked if it is written broad enough to include notifying a parent if a student may be transgender, Cherniss said: “The policy speaks for itself and covers all matters related to parental notification.” He did not respond to questions asking to clarify further.

“The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Board of Education strives to foster trust and communication between the District and the parent(s)/guardian(s) of its students,” the policy reads. “To that end, the Board supports the fundamental rights of parent(s)/guardian(s) to direct the care and upbringing of their children, including the right to be informed of and involved in their child’s education to promote positive educational outcomes.”

Through the policy, the district says it intends to include parents in “the decision-making process for mental health and social-emotional issues of their children arising at school at the earliest possible time in order to prevent or reduce potential instances of harm to self or others as well as promote communication and positive relationships.”

PYLUSD board members did not respond to requests for comment Monday afternoon.

Several districts across California have adopted what’s been called parental notification policies in recent months. These guidelines stipulate that parents would be informed if their child requests to use different names or pronouns or wishes to change sex-segregated programs such as athletic teams or changing facilities that differ from the student’s assigned biological sex at birth.

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Last month, Orange Unified became the first district in Orange County to adopt such a policy.

There, the policy requires a certificated staff member or principal to inform parents if their child, who is under the age of 12, requests to use different names or pronouns or asks to change sex-segregated programs. If the student is older, it is up to the discretion of a school counselor or psychologist to decide if it is appropriate to report the information to the family.

Multiple districts across California — including Murrieta Valley Unified, Chino Valley Unified and Temecula Valley Unified — have recently adopted similar policies. And on Oct. 18, Capistrano Unified is set to consider a similar proposal.

Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Chino Valley in August to stop enforcement of the policy. Bonta said it “presents students with a terrible choice. Either walk back your rights to gender identity and gender expression to be yourself (and) to be who you are or face the risk of serious harm — mental harm, emotional harm, physical harm.”

A judge has issued a temporary restraining order, blocking its enforcement for now. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 13.

​ Orange County Register 

‘Hitchcock’s Blondes’ explores the director’s films with Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, more

• October 10, 2023

As biographer Laurence Leamer settled in front of the television to research the films of Alfred Hitchcock, he realized he had a problem.

“I started watching this as an author writing the book and trying to get material,” Leamer says on a recent call. “And after five minutes, his stuff is so fascinating I forget that and just watch it because I’m enjoying it so much.

“That’s how good he is,” he says. “That’s how he involves you. He knows just what he’s doing.”

Leamer persevered and “Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession” arrived on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

In it, Leamer explores the work of Hitchcock and eight actresses with whom he worked, from June Howard-Tripp in 1925’s “The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog” to Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” and “Marnie” in 1963 and ’64.

In between, Leamer explores Hitchcock’s work with Madeleine Carroll (“The 39 Steps,” “Secret Agent”), Ingrid Bergman (“Spellbound,” “Notorious,” “Under Capricorn”), Grace Kelly (“Dial M for Murder,” “Rear Window,” “To Catch a Thief”), Kim Novak (“Vertigo”), Eva Marie Saint (“North by Northwest”), and Janet Leigh (“Psycho“).

Hitchcock’s life and career has been examined in numerous books from before and after his death at 80 in 1980. His infatuation with his leading ladies, particularly the blondes and his odd, sometimes cruel manner with them are well known.

But Leamer is the first biographer to shift the focus from Hitchcock in the foreground to zoom in on the women with whom the director achieved some of his greatest works.

“Hitchcock’s Blondes” is the second in a planned trilogy about male creative geniuses and their female friends, colleagues and confidants. Leamer, 81, is currently working on a book about artist Andy Warhol and his many muses.

The first book in his series, “Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era” arrived in 2021. Its story of writer Truman Capote and the New York City circle of women in which he moved arrives as the second chapter of producer Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology series “Feud” in 2024.

Q: Do you remember when you first became aware of Alfred Hitchcock?

A: He’s so much a part of our culture, I don’t even know. You know, if you go on Amazon Prime and plug in Hitchcock, there are over 40 of his films you can watch today. That’s the magnitude of that guy’s accomplishments.

Q: How did you arrive at the framework of the book, focusing on these eight women?

A: Well, chronology is God’s gift to a writer. You’d better have a damn good reason to do away with it. So the chronology is his life and the blondes are pretty obviously the candidates for telling it.

When I write a book, I always write the ending in my head and then I try to write the book that would justify that ending. And that’s what I did here. I wanted the ending to be that AFI tribute (in March 1979). I wanted the audience at that point, the readers, to appreciate his greatness, and also the dark part of it as well. And to appreciate the actresses as well.

Q: Three of the actresses are still living. Tippi Hedren doesn’t do interviews but you were able to talk with Eva Marie Saint from ‘North by Northwest’ and Kim Novak from ‘Vertigo.’ What was that like?

A: Eva Marie Saint was fabulous. You know, she’s 99 years old now, living by herself in her apartment. She wants to have her own life. I think that’s incredible.

Q: From her chapter in the book, she seems to be one of the most grounded of the Hitchcock actresses.

A: She was grounded, but she is calculating. And I don’t say that as a criticism, just the opposite. She knew the life she wanted early on. She had some success in television. Got a little apartment. She was lonely, she wanted to marry. She didn’t want to marry an actor. She married this producer. And they had the most wonderful marriage.

Then in her career, she loved her children. She liked to act, but when they were growing up, she’d do just one movie a year. She put her Academy Award statuette for ‘On The Waterfront’ in the closet and just forgot it. She really has immense character as far as I’m concerned.

Q: A lot of the stories of Hitchcock and the actresses are well known. I’m curious what your conversation with her provided that you didn’t already have?

A: She had some tidbits, but she’s told these stories many times. I found a few new things. It was just as much to get a real feeling of her emotionally. I think I wrote a much better chapter because I knew her in that way.

Q: Kim Novak, from your chapter on her, seems like perhaps the actress Hitchcock treated the worst. What was she like?

A: It’s inexplicable to me (how she was treated). He brings her up to luncheon and shows her his paintings, which he knows she won’t appreciate the way he appreciates them, and the vintage wine, which she doesn’t understand. Just to put her down. And the first day in the studio there’s this dead chicken attached to her mirror and Hitch and the other men standing around laughing at her.

She said she didn’t know what that was about. I don’t know what it’s about. It just didn’t make any sense to me. But it’s not a great thing to do to this vulnerable, insecure actress on the first day.

And then when she finished it, I think she deserved an Academy Award nomination because I think she’s magnificent. It’s a very difficult role. But Hitch put her down. Even when that putting down probably diminished the number of people wanting to see the movie.

Q: Was she candid and open about her treatment by him?

A: She really appreciated Hitchcock. She has nothing negative to say about it. It’s the best thing she did in her whole life, and she puts it in perspective.

Q: In recent years, there’s been a lot of discussion about how to appreciate art made by men with problematic histories. Might this book change Hitchcock’s reputation?

A: If the things about Woody Allen are true – and I don’t know if they are, but if they are, well, I wouldn’t want to watch his films, right? This stuff about Hitchcock isn’t at that magnitude, in my opinion. In the #MeToo times, people are just too easily dismissed, and I don’t think it’s fair to him.

There was a biographer of him, Donald Spoto, who just focused on the darkness, and that had a big impact on Hitchcock’s reputation. I don’t think that’s fair.

Q: Of the Hitchcock films you watched featuring these women, do you have a favorite you go back to?

A: It depends on what you want. I mean, ‘To Catch a Thief’ is just pure fun. You can’t beat that. ‘Marnie,’ the dark brilliance of that is irresistible. And ‘Psycho,’ I mean, there’s nothing like ‘Psycho,’ right?

Laurence Leamer book event

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12

Where: Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

For more: Vromansbookstore.com/Laurence-Leamer-discusses-Hitchcocks-Blondes

​ Orange County Register 

Brian Levin, Cal State San Bernardino expert on extremism and hate, retires

• October 10, 2023

After nearly a quarter century of leading Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, founding director Brian Levin decided it was time to step down.

“Right now, things are very upsetting, which is how I knew it was time to go,” he said.

He’s been studying extremism for years, and the tide of hatred and intolerance keeps rising.

“What’s frustrating now is how mainstream bigotry has become,” he said. “Now the hate is an a la carte system. You don’t have to belong to a big hate group or even a hate group at all. The number of hate groups, according to the (Southern Poverty Law Center) actually went down, because people are freelancing.”

In August, the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism released the final report supervised by Levin, showing large increases in reported hate crimes against the LGBTQ community in 42 major American cities. Hate crimes jumped 10% in 2022 in the cities surveyed and by 17% in an analysis of 16 states. In the largest 10 cities, hate crimes went up an average of 22% in 2022, the second record year in a row, the report showed.

According to the survey, the largest increases in hate crimes were targeted against those of “other race/ethnicity,” which was up 94%; followed by anti-LGBTQ hatred, which was up 52%; anti-gender non-conforming people (including those in drag), which was up 47%; anti-Jewish hate, which was up 29%; and anti-transgender hate, which was up 28%.

Following his ‘north star’

Levin took a roundabout path to becoming one of the nation’s foremost experts on hate and extremism.

“There was no playbook to having a career doing this,” he said.

Levin grew up in New York City.

His father was a Jewish Army medic who survived almost a year in a Nazi prison camp during World War II before going on to become New York City’s chief veterinarian. His mother was an NYPD officer.

Between the two of them, they gave Levin what he calls his “north star:” “Go help where you can help,” Levin said.

Levin became an NYPD police officer himself. As a law school student at Stanford, he created what became the first-ever hate crimes training material for the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), which sets the standards for police training in California.

Months after leaving law school, Levin wrote his first legal brief in a U.S. Supreme Court case. His brief, in Wisconsin v. Mitchell, argued that that courts have the legal right to punish more harshly those criminals who selected their victims based on criteria such as race, backing up his argument that hate crimes cause greater harm to both societies and their victims. The court’s 1993 decision became the basis for most of today’s hate crime laws.

Levin then monitored extremist groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center before landing at CSUSB, where he taught criminal justice and helped create the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in 1999.

“I always thought I was adhering to my north star,” Levin said.

Neither police officer nor doctor, as his father had wanted him to be, Levin said he believes he still stayed in the family business.

“Different box, but same cereal,” he said. “Public service.”

Over the years, CSUSB’s center has produced detailed reports that help policymakers, law enforcement agencies, the media and others understand the nature and scope of hate and extremism.

In 2016, he famously shielded Ku Klux Klan members from being badly beaten and assaulted by counter-protestors at an anti-immigration rally in Anaheim.

“I get a lot of questions about saving the Klan guy. I’d do it again in a second,” Levin said. Reversing the growing waves of hate and violence is critical, he said.

“America is such a gift to the world that if we don’t turn this around, we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves.”

‘A gem of a human being’

Those who know or have worked with Levin have great praise for him.

“Brian’s been such a thoughtful advocate at the center, always leading with ideas and policies that keep the Inland Empire safe and have an eye toward our country,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino. “We’re going to miss him locally, but I’m hoping that I can continue to rely on him personally for advice along the way.”

Cal State San Bernardino president Tomas Morales praised Levin’s contributions to the scholarly understanding of prejudice, hate and extremism.

“His research through the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism translated to practical policy for lawmakers to understand and attack extremism,” Morales wrote in an emailed statement. “And he also used that knowledge to be a voice to call out bigotry against individuals and communities who have been marginalized.”

Mike German, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice who previously infiltrated hate groups as an undercover FBI agent, said “it seems like I’ve known Brian for my entire professional career.”

“He’s known for the research and advocacy work he’s done at the Southern Poverty Law Center, but he comes at it from a law enforcement perspective, coming from an NYPD background,” German said. “And he’s a gem of a human being.”

According to Ann Noel, president of the California Association of Human Rights Organizations, Levin’s shoes will be tough to fill.

“I’ve always found his knowledge about the issue and sense of how big of a problem it is, and where the problem is, and who can fight the problem to be extraordinary,” she said. “He comes with a lot of experience and a lot of credibility, and I think that’s going to be very hard to replicate.”

‘Fine without me’

But after 24 years leading the center, and 38 years in public service, Levin said he’s in a “different place now” and that it is time to go.

“I’m much more personally affected now,” he said. “We’re not going to solve this violent, vile bigotry on my watch.”

And the accumulation of studying hate and extremism on a daily basis has beaten him down, Levin said.

“It’s eroded me to a point where I can’t teach and do this stuff,” he said.

Although Levin has retired from teaching and his work at the center, he will continue to serve on the California Commission on the State of Hate, which Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to last year.

And he’s confident the center is in good hands.

“This place is going to be just fine without me,” Levin said. “They’ve got a knockout international team. … That’s what gives me a lot of hope.”

Steven Merrall is the new director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. (Photo by Beau Yarbrough, San Bernardino Sun/SCNG)

The center’s new British-born director is Steven Merrall, who also teaches criminal law and policy classes at CSUSB. He hopes to make the center’s data even more accessible.

“The way I know how to provide support (to hate crime victims) is through research, it’s through analysis,” he said. “If we don’t have the numbers, and if we don’t have the interpretation of those numbers that’s made available to a wide range of people, then this stuff disappears.”

Levin has been the “episodic” target of hate mail and other threats due to his work combatting hate speech and Merrall has seen the dangers of intolerance close to home. He lives in Cedar Glen and his family knew Lauri Carleton, the shop owner who was shot and killed in August during a confrontation over the LGBTQ pride flag she had hanging outside her store.

“I’m not going to be bullied,” Merrall said. “So yes, it’s a concern, because it is a reality, unfortunately, and extremism by its nature, is dangerous.”

And the work is not getting any less important.

“We’ve been in an interesting sort of political period, to be diplomatic,” Merrall said. “We’ve seen marginalized sorts of communities vilified for political purposes. And it’s not new. This is as old as the hills — thousands of years, thousands of years of this. But we’ve seen a significant sort of increase in the type of language that is designed to be inflammatory. It is designed to identify and blame, which is extremely problematic.”

He expects the center’s work to be even more important as the 2024 presidential election approaches.

“In the presidential election years, since ’92 onwards, where we’ve had the data, every presidential election year there’s an increase in hate crimes,” Merrall said. “We’ve seen marginalized groups identified, vilified and used to divide. And I don’t know that anything is going to be any different (next) year.”

Handing off the baton

One success Levin sees in the fight against hatred and extremism: The center he founded is no longer the only or even main resource taking the study of extremism seriously.

“Now when something terrible happens, I’m glad when (policymakers and journalists) also call other people,” he said.

He hopes to see more such centers opening around the United States.

“When you’re a young person, you want to drive the car,” Levin said. “Now, I want to give out the keys to 1,000 cars.”

More about hate and extremism

San Bernardino mass shooters: Why did they do it?
Hate crimes in major U.S. cities increased 9% in 2018, new report shows
FBI arrests Boogaloo extremist group member in Pomona after gun sales meeting in Murrieta
Newsom makes appointments to new anti-hate crime commission
Killing of business owner over pride flag shocks LGBTQ community, Cedar Glen residents

​ Orange County Register 

Niles: Say no to No-Boo; Knott’s Scary Farm should be scary

• October 10, 2023

Innovation does not happen unless someone takes a chance. But whenever you try something new, you create the possibility for failure as well as success.

Like many theme park fans, I want to see parks trying new things from time to time, so I won’t roast Knott’s Berry Farm too hard for trying something new at its Knott’s Scary Farm event this year. I just hope that the park’s management sees its attempted innovation as a failure and does not bring it back again next year.

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Different choices drive creativity at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights
Disneyland’s New Orleans Square deserves more New Orleans flavor

This year, Knott’s has been selling a “No-Boo Necklace” to Scary Farm visitors who did not want to be scared when walking through the park’s many scare zones. One fan online compared buying and wearing that necklace to bringing a poncho to a water park. If you don’t want to be scared, what’s the point of going to a haunt?

Knott’s has to have known that the No-Boo Necklace was going to be controversial, and the park actually has leaned into the controversy. When Knott’s announced the item during its after-hours preview event for Knott’s Scary Farm, the devoted fans there greeted the news with a chorus of boos. Knott’s even wrote the No-Boo Necklace into the return of “The Hanging,” giving it as close to a starring role as anything else lampooned in that show.

Halloween haunts have grown into massive events for theme parks around the world, so of course parks are going want to continue expanding them. So long as those expansions do not dilute the nature of the event, that’s great. I have loved seeing parks’ creative teams work with non-traditional genres — from science fiction to the roaring ‘20s — when designing attractions for haunt events.

But seeing other people get scared at a haunt is as much a part of the attraction as getting scared yourself. That camaraderie — that shared belief that we are all fair game for the monsters — is one of the qualities that makes haunts so beloved among fans.

I understand that there may be circumstances in which people need an accommodation for scare zones. Those should be handled through guest services like any other necessary accommodation in the park. They should not be sold as a consumer product, like the $15 No-Boo Necklace. That just makes it feel like the park is trying to expand the haunt by marketing it to people who don’t want the core experience that the haunt was designed to provide.

Would Legoland feel as accommodating to families with young children if it started building huge looping coasters with severe height requirements? No. That would be an expansion that changed the nature of the place, much like adding No-Boo Necklaces to the mix at a haunt.

If Knott’s sells enough No-Boo Necklaces to make the product a financial success, it runs the risk of changing a core element of Scary Farm to the point where devoted fans won’t enjoy the event as much anymore. Knott’s has great family Halloween event with its daytime Spooky Farm. Let the fans who don’t want scares go there. Let Scary Farm continue to be scary for the rest.

​ Orange County Register 

Salvation Army unveils ‘Center of Hope’ housing shelter in Anaheim

• October 10, 2023

Salvation Army officials and government dignitaries on Monday, Oct. 9, unveiled 72 new units of permanent supportive housing in Anaheim, part of a “Center of Hope” created to help people who have experienced homelessness navigate forward in their lives.

“That miracle of bringing hope, restoring hope to lives of people,” said Doug Riley, who oversees the western territories for the Salvation Army, “that’s what we are doing here.”

The $38 million building, which the Salvation Army will manage, is located next to the Christian nonprofit’s adult rehab center and 325-bed emergency shelter near Ball Road and Lewis Street. The permanent supportive housing units will allow people who are emerging from homelessness to receive rental subsidies and access other services.

The housing project broke ground in January 2022. Ben Hurst, the Salvation Army’s director of operations in Orange County, said Monday it is the largest permanent supportive housing project in the county.

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said the emergency shelter next door, which opened in 2019, has served more than 1,300 people. This new addition will give people a new chance at life and bring stability and purpose, she said.

“We can no longer just offer a roof and four walls to solve homelessness,” Aitken said. “We need mental health support. We need life skills, and we need all the other services that keep people housed, stable and successful. Center of Hope will deliver on all of these, and it will change people’s lives in miraculous ways.”

The Center of Hope will eventually also include the Salvation Army’s Center for Applied Research and Innovation, which will look for best practices and new ideas to help people coming off the streets.

Riley said the catalyst for the project was Judge David Carter asking local officials five years ago to “do something” to combat homelessness in Orange County. He said they quickly emerged with the idea for the building that debuted on Monday.

The project received funding from federal, state and local governments, as well as from philanthropic fundraising.

The units will come with furniture, a kitchen and accessible showers, and there is a fitness center in the building.

Rep. Lou Correa said homelessness is the symptom of many problems, and he called housing with wraparound services such as this one a good solution.

“This is just the beginning,” Correa said. “We are gonna get busy and do more.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Swanson: Dodgers’ hitters succumbing to the pressure again

• October 10, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Hey, batter, batter, batter!! Swing, batter, batter!!!

Oh, sorry. Should we keep it down over here? Is that old sandlot refrain too much for this Dodgers ballclub, allergic as it apparently is to pressure?

The Dodgers’ bullpen – especially the way Manager Dave Roberts pulled the levers in Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of their National League Division Series – has come through as well as anyone could have hoped.

And their starting pitching has fallen as flat as anyone might have feared – Clayton Kershaw and Bobby Miller can claim a flabbergasting 40.50 ERA and a grand total of six outs.

But their hitting …

The Dodgers’ offense – allegedly their strong suit, their superpower – has no-showed, legit stood up every one of their fans who watched the first two games of this series. It’s setting up the second consecutive epic playoff fail, following last season’s 3-1 NLDS loss to the San Diego Padres – which featured the same sad theme: a lifeless offense.

The same team that scored 906 runs this season has managed just two runs in each of their two playoff games against Arizona. The Dodgers are hitting a collectively putrid .159.

Their two best players, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, a pair of NL MVP candidates, are 0 for 7 and 1 for 6 through two games, respectively.

What, you thought you’d get more from guys who this season became the first 1-2 hitters in big-league history to both have at least 25 home runs and an OPS over .975?

What, you expect the Dodgers will need those two to get going if they’re going to find a way to keep their season alive?

“Yeah, I mean, they’re our two best players,” Roberts said. “I think that they know that, so it’s pretty much … the last thing I want to do, though, is be redundant in the sense of, ‘we need these guys.’ When you start getting into that kind of mindset, it’s just – in baseball and hitting, in particular – it’s just not helpful.”

Betts echoed that refrain: “Can’t add more pressure; that makes it harder, it’s still the same game, have to go play and let the game dictate what goes on.”

In other words, don’t play the ball, let the ball play you? Got it.

You know all those cliches about pressure? How it’s diamond-making stuff, and how it can be a privilege – especially if you’re earning hundreds of millions of dollars for the trouble?

You can’t pretend the pressure away. You can’t run from it, can’t hide.

It’s always been there: Last year in the NLDS meltdown against the Padres, when a Dodgers team led again by Betts and Freeman, along with Trea Turner atop the lineup, scored just seven runs over the final three games on their way to a shockingly early exit for a club that had won 111 regular-season games.

Especially because it was against an opponent that finished 22 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings, and because of how poorly Betts performed in that four-game series, going 2 for 14 with one RBI.

And the pressure hasn’t gone away now, as they try to avoid a sweep against the Diamondbacks, who finished 16 games behind the Dodgers.

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The Diamondbacks might not be the better team, but they’re playing better, as the adage goes. Their hitters have shown impressive discipline at the plate, a real commitment to their gameplan, unwilling to swing at bad pitches.

The Dodgers have been so much less focused. Betts and Will Smith jumped at first pitches. Freeman spectated as strike three flew past him with runners on the corners in the fifth inning. Max Muncy waved at a third strike out of the zone in the eighth after having gone ahead in the count 3-and-0. And so on …

The pressure isn’t dissipating, but the shock of it is. The Dodgers have won the NL West 10 of the past 11 seasons and have only the short-season 2020 championship to show for it, so I can forgive their fans for feeling numb about the Dodgers’ current predicament.

We’ve seen this movie before, after all, and so we know, if there’s one thing these Dodgers know how to do is come up with a good story. It’s the endings they struggle with.

Too much pressure.

Dodgers star Mookie Betts watches from the dugout during the eighth inning of Game 2 of their National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Dodger Stadium. Betts and the Dodgers’ hitters are struggling mightily and are one of the reasons the team finds itself at the brink of elimination in the best-of-five series. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

​ Orange County Register