New law makes top California transit agencies survey riders about harassment

• October 10, 2023

California’s top 10 public transit agencies must survey riders about safety, sexual harassment, and racial and gender-based discrimination in order to learn more about threats to riders of buses and trains, according to new requirements spelled out in legislation signed into state law.

Senate Bill 434 by state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 7, orders transit agencies to find out what kind of harassment, threats, assaults or fear riders experience — and on what lines or bus routes. A key focus would be on women of color including Asian-American Pacific Islanders (AAPI), the elderly, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The information would be used to address safety issues ranging from street harassment that can cause people of color and women to avoid public transit entirely, to threats and hate crimes. Supporters say the new law will result in a better understanding of under-reported harassment incidents, and allow agencies to target the problem with resources.

Supporters say that keeping track of incidents will give victims a voice. The emphasis could raise ridership of women from those subgroups. Female ridership on LA Metro buses fell from 53% in early 2020 to 49% in 2022, according to a survey taken from March to May of 2022. And female ridership on trains dropped from 46% to 44%.

“Millions of Californians refuse to ride public transit in this state because they do not feel safe,” said Sen. Min in a prepared statement. “From acts of anti-Asian hate to verbal harassment, a growing number of women, seniors, LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable communities too often ride in fear or have left our public transit systems altogether. I’m proud to say that we are finally taking action to address street harassment and putting in place data driven policies that put ridership experience first.”

The agencies involved are Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), LA Metro, Long Beach Transit, City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), San Francisco Muni, Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority (BART), Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Sacramento Regional Transit District and San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.

“The numbers don’t lie. A staggering 77% of women experience sexual harassment in public spaces, and almost a third of that harassment occurs on mass transit,” said Min in a press release. “Additionally, the AAPI community has seen a surge in hate incidents in public spaces, many occurring on our public transit systems.”

SB 434 will work in tandem with a bill by Min from 2022 that tapped the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University to create a survey about transit safety, which transit agencies will distribute and administer. Using this institute’s survey can save the agencies money while helping them collect data on harassment and hate incidents. In turn, that can lead to better solutions to the problem, supporters say.

“Too often, our communities are facing verbal harassment, being called racial or sexualized slurs. Thee experiences make it less likely for us to take public transit,” said Candice Cho, managing director of policy and counsel at AAPI Equity Alliance in Los Angeles.

Cho told of waiting for a bus after a Hollywood Bowl performance and being called racial and sexually-explicit names by a man at the bus stop. She chose to take a ride-sharing service to her home instead of public transit, she said.

“I had the means to do that. But that is not always an option for people in our community who have to put up with this,” Cho said on Monday, Oct. 9.

She said while some transit agencies survey their riders, many do not report sexual or racial harassment. She said often a law enforcement officer would say that wasn’t a crime.

“By requiring transit operators to collect this information, Asian-American riders, and other riders can be heard,” she said. “You can’t fix what you don’t measure.”

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Related links

How can California buses and trains be safer? New bill aims to find out
Survey says: Fewer females ride LA Metro buses and trains, many citing safety and harassment
March in El Monte takes aim at anti-Asian violence and hate
LAPD: Hate crimes against Asian Americans increased in 2020, but more are likely going unreported
Metro riders speak out about crime, drug use and homeless on transit system

​ Orange County Register 

Hamas has fought several rounds of war with Israel

• October 10, 2023

By Sarah El Deeb | Associated Press

BEIRUT — Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched an attack inside Israel over the weekend, killing hundreds and taking others hostage. Its unprecedented breach of the border sent fighters inside border communities and military installations, shocked Israel and its allies, and raised questions about the group’s capabilities and strategy.

WHAT IS HAMAS?

The group was founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian refugee living in Gaza, during the first intifada, or uprising, which was marked by widespread protests against Israel’s occupation.

Hamas is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, and a recognition of the group’s roots and early ties to one of the Sunni world’s most prominent groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in the 1920s.

The group has vowed to annihilate Israel and has been responsible for many suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli soldiers.

The U.S. State Department has designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997. The European Union and other Western countries also consider it a terrorist organization.

Hamas won 2006 parliamentary elections elections and in 2007 violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority, dominated by rival Fatah movement, administers semi-autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel responded to the Hamas takeover with a blockade on Gaza, restricting movement of people and goods in and out of the territory in a step it says is needed to keep the group from developing weapons. The blockade has ravaged Gaza’s economy, and Palestinians accuse Israel of collective punishment.

Over the years, Hamas received backing from Arab countries, such as Qatar and Turkey. Recently, it’s moved closer to Iran and its allies.

WHO ARE HAMAS’ LEADERS?

Hamas founder and spiritual leader Yassin — a paralyzed man who used a wheelchair — spent years in Israeli prisons and oversaw the establishment of Hamas’ military wing, which carried out its first suicide attack in 1993.

Israeli forces have targeted Hamas leaders throughout the years, killing Yassin in 2004.

Khaled Mashaal, an exiled Hamas member who survived an earlier Israeli assassination attempt, became the group’s leader soon after.

Yehia Sinwar, in Gaza, and Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in exile, are Hamas’ current leaders. They realigned the group’s leadership with Iran and its allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Since then, many of the group’s leaders relocated to Beirut.

WHAT DOES HAMAS WANT?

Hamas has always espoused violence as a means to liberate occupied Palestinian territories and has called for the annihilation of Israel.

Hamas has carried out suicide bombings and over the years fired tens of thousands of increasingly powerful rockets from Gaza into Israel. It also established a network of tunnels running from Gaza to Egypt to smuggle in weapons, as well as attack tunnels burrowing into Israel.

In recent years, Hamas had appeared to be more focused on running Gaza than attacking Israel.

WHY NOW?

In recent years, Israel has made peace deals with Arab countries without having to make concessions in its conflict with the Palestinians. The U.S. has recently been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a bitter rival of Hamas’ Iranian backers.

Meanwhile, Israel’s new far-right government was working to cement Israeli settlements in the West Bank despite Palestinian opposition.

Hamas leaders say an Israeli crackdown on militants in the West Bank, continued construction of settlements — which the international community considers to be illegal — thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails, and its ongoing blockade of Gaza pushed it to attack.

Its leaders say hundreds of its 40,000 fighters took part in the assault. Israel says the group has about 30,000 fighters and an arsenal of rockets, including some with a range of about 250 kilometers (155 miles), and unmanned drones.

​ Orange County Register 

Hamas terror leads only to more misery

• October 10, 2023

Perhaps the most emblematic images from a weekend of Hamas-provoked violence in Israel were at the site of the Tribe of Nova music festival in an Israeli desert near the border at Gaza. Israeli officials posted images of strewn bodies, after Hamas terrorists — please, let’s not call them militants — murdered at least 260 young people who were dancing at a festival devoted to peace. Hundreds are missing, with many taken as hostages.

Commentators are shocked at how Israel’s highly sophisticated intelligence services missed such a carefully coordinated attack. “While Israel was led to believe it was containing a war-weary Hamas by providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group’s fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight,” according to Reuters. Israelis rightly view this as the equivalent of the surprise 9-11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

Elsewhere, battle lines are forming mostly as expected. Some Middle Eastern officials are expressing support for the Palestinian cause, without acknowledging that barbarous attacks on civilians will set back their cause. Russian propagandists have used the Israeli crisis to needle the West over its support for Ukraine. Others talk about the need for longer-term solutions, but one can’t discuss such ideas in the middle of a blood bath.

In the United States, politicians and the politically obsessed are describing the events in the context of the coming presidential election. Republicans are blaming the Biden administration. They are focusing on the administration’s recent unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian oil assets. None of that money has been spent, but Hamas has announced (as if it needed announcing) that Iran helped with the attacks. Democrats pointed to Donald Trump’s sharing of Israeli-related intelligence with Hamas’ Russian allies.

There will be time to analyze U.S. policy in the Middle East and Israel’s security failures, but for now it would be best for Americans to unite to seek productive solutions — rather than use the crisis to score political points. The U.S. government obviously is deeply involved in the region, but not every horror in the world is our fault — or ours to prevent.

The situation in Gaza has long been a complicated mess that predates recent U.S. administrations. The Israelis ended their military occupation of Gaza in 2005, with Israel dismantling its settlements in the area. Israel still maintains control of Gaza’s airspace and utilities. Hamas ultimately seized control of the area — and the Gaza’s self-rule obviously hasn’t led to a more peaceful or prosperous future there.

For now, the Israelis have declared war and are attacking Hamas sites. They’ve vowed a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, a 141-square mile area that’s home to more than 2 million people. That’s a little more than half the size of the San Fernando Valley. Israel has every right to seek out its attackers, but Hamas is nestled within densely populated neighborhoods. Residents have nowhere to go.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to turn Hamas hideouts into rubble, which will likely mean the escalation of a humanitarian crisis. The blame for the recent violence lies squarely on Hamas and its enablers and funders, but we can only hope and pray that Israel’s response targets Hamas terrorists — and doesn’t lead to more horrific scenes of innocent young bodies.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County girls volleyball Top 10, Oct. 9

• October 10, 2023

ORANGE COUNTY GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TOP 10

(Records through Oct. 8)

1. Mater Dei 33-2: Monarchs beat JSerra, have clinched another outright Trinity League championship, remain No. 1 in MaxPreps.com national rankings.

Previous ranking: 1

2. Huntington Beach 27-6: Oilers clinched the Surf League championship with league wins over Los Alamitos, Newport Harbor.

Previous ranking: 2

3. Beckman 26-5: Patriots, No. 1 in latest CIF Southern Section Division 3 rankings, moved Pacific Coast League record to 5-0 with league wins over Sage Hill, Northwood.

Previous ranking: 3

4. Los Alamitos 27-4: Griffins played Huntington Beach to five sets in close Surf League loss, advanced to semifinals of Redondo tournament.

Previous ranking: 4

5. JSerra: 24-10: Lions lost to Mater Dei in four sets by these scores – 21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25.

Previous ranking: 6

6. Santa Margarita: Eagles beat Orange Lutheran, lost to JSerra in Trinity League matches.

Previous ranking: 7

7. Orange Lutheran 25-12: Lancers lost to Santa Margarita, defeated Rosary in Trinity League play.

Previous ranking: 5

8. Dana Hills 18-4: South Coast League-leading Dolphins got two big league wins last week over San Clemente, Tesoro.

Previous ranking: 10

9. San Clemente 14-11: Tritons beat San Juan Hills, lost to San Clemente in South Coast League.

Previous ranking: 9

10. San Juan Hills 11-10: Stallions in a three-way tie with Aliso Niguel, San Clemente for second place in the South Coast League.

Previous ranking: 8

Others considered: Aliso Niguel 11-11; Canyon 15-3; Capistrano Valley Christian 26-3; Corona del Mar 15-10; Edison 13-12.

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​ Orange County Register 

No agreement at SAG-AFTRA talks Monday; union, studios return to bargaining Wednesday

• October 10, 2023

Representatives for the striking SAG-AFTRA actors union and the major studios met Monday, Oct. 9, for the fourth time in eight days, but were unable to reach agreement on a new contract, the union announced.

Bargaining will resume on Wednesday, with the parties working independently on Tuesday, according to the union.

Representatives of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also met last Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the first time the sides sat down with each other since the strike began July 14.

SAG-AFTRA demands include general wage increases, protections against the use of actor images through artificial intelligence, boosts in compensation for successful streaming programs and improvements in health and retirement benefits.

Monday’s scheduled talks came on the day that members of the Writers Guild of America overwhelmingly ratified their tentative labor deal, which brought the nearly five-month writers strike to an end.

Of those who cast ballots in a ratification vote that began last Monday, 99% voted in favor of the new pact, WGA leaders wrote in a message to union members. According to the message, 8,525 votes were cast, and 8,435 were in favor, with only 90 no votes.

The new pact will be in place through May 1, 2026.

But the boards of the WGA East and West branches both endorsed the tentative deal, and ratification was expected.

A resolution of the actors strike is the last remaining hurdle toward getting the film and TV industries back in business. Hollywood has been virtually crippled since the writers struck on May 2 and the actors followed on July 14 over many of the same issues.

SAG-AFTRA demands include general wage increases, protections against the use of actor images through artificial intelligence, boosts in compensation for successful streaming programs and improvements in health and retirement benefits.

SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 actors.

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Monday, Oct. 9

• October 10, 2023

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Monday, Oct. 9

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

MONDAY’S SCORES

GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL

SUNSET LEAGUE

Newport Harbor 13, Los Alamitos 0

Corona Del Mar 45, Laguna Beach 0

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

Aliso Niguel 14, San Juan Hills 0

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Beckman 25, University 19

NONLEAGUE

El Toro 24, El Modena 16

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Kennedy def. Valencia, 25-11, 25-14, 25-17

La Quinta def. Rancho Alamitos, 3-2

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Capistrano Valley Christian def. Pacifica Christian, 25-14, 25-18, 25-15

PC: Wondercheck 14 kills, Dion 15 digs, Bone 3 aces

NONLEAGUE

Estancia def. Hawthorne, 25-8, 25-15

​ Orange County Register 

Braves rally past Phillies in Game 2 to pull even in NLDS

• October 10, 2023

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA — After being held hitless into the sixth inning, the Atlanta Braves rallied for an improbable 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on two-run homers by Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley and a game-ending double play for the ages to even the National League Division Series at one win apiece Monday night.

D’Arnaud, who started at catcher over slumping Sean Murphy, gave the Braves hope with his shot into the left field seats in the seventh, cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 4-3.

It was Atlanta’s first extra-base hit of the series.

Riley provided the second, driving a 3-and-2 pitch from Jeff Hoffman (0-1) into the Phillies’ bullpen with two outs in the eighth to put the Braves ahead for the first time in the best-of-five series. Ronald Acuña Jr. scored ahead of Riley after being plunked on the left arm by Hoffman’s first pitch coming in from the bullpen.

It ended in equally stunning fashion. With Bryce Harper aboard, Nick Castellanos drove one to the fence in deep right-center, only to be robbed on a great leaping catch by Michael Harris II.

Harper had rounded second base when Harris made the catch. He backtracked desperately, and the throw back to the infield skidded past second baseman Ozzie Albies. But Riley alertly backed up the play and zipped a throw to first that completed the double play.

Just like that, the series was tied. Game 3 is Wednesday at Philadelphia.

A.J. Minter (1-0) earned the win and Raisel Iglesias claimed his first save of this postseason.

With Zack Wheeler dominating a lineup that led the majors in runs and tied a major league record with 307 homers, the Phillies built a 4-0 lead. J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run drive in the third off Max Fried, sandwiched between Alec Bohm’s run-scoring single and Bryson Stott’s sacrifice fly.

Wheeler, who was born and raised not far from Truist Park, was one strike away from making it through the sixth without allowing a hit. But he walked Acuña after getting ahead 1-and-2 in the count, and Albies lined a single to right.

Acuña was holding up at third, but he took off for home when the throw back to the infield ricocheted off Trea Turner’s glove for the shortstop’s second error of the night.

Wheeler fanned the side in each of the first two innings, with the Braves making contact on just 12 of 26 strikes. Matt Olson was the lone baserunner, reaching when Turner bobbled a routine grounder to shortstop.

Through the first four innings, the home team didn’t even get one of the infield – unless you count the Hammer, Brush, Paint Can and Drill racing around the warning track as part of the Home Depot Tool Race.

Finally, on Atlanta’s 13th batter of the night, Marcell Ozuna lifted one to center field. It was caught by Johan Rojas, but that seemed like progress the way the Braves were struggling.

Atlanta was shut out 3-0 in Game 1 and started the series with 14 straight scoreless innings – its longest drought of the season – before finally breaking through with an assist from Turner’s glove.

Fried, who went on the injured list late in the season with a recurring blister issue, labored through four innings. He surrendered three runs and six hits and was lucky to leave the game trailing only 3-0.

Bryson Stott grounded out with the bases loaded to end the first, and the Phillies stranded two more runners in the fourth.

In all, the Phillies left 11 runners on base.

FAMILIAR LINEUP

After juggling the batting order for the series opener, and catching some heat when the Braves were shut out at home for the first time all season, Manager Brian Snitker returned to a more familiar lineup card.

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Albies was back in the second slot after batting cleanup in Game 1, followed by Riley and Olson.

The Braves did make the change at catcher, which paid off big time.

UP NEXT

Aaron Nola, who pitched seven scoreless innings against Miami during the wild-card round, will go for the Phillies in Game 3. The right-hander made three appearances against the Braves during the regular season, posting a 3.50 ERA while failing to pick up a decision.

Atlanta has yet to name its starter for Game 3, though the Phillies are expecting to see either Bryce Elder or AJ Smith-Shawver, a 20-year-old rookie. “You kind of prepare for both of them and just be ready to go,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers to give Lance Lynn the ball in Game 3 of NLDS

• October 10, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― Lance Lynn has started three postseason games against the Dodgers in his 12-year major league career.

Wednesday, he is likely to make his first postseason start for the Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series in Phoenix.

“I don’t see it being anyone outside of Lance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Game 2 of their best-of-five series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. “And so we’ll see how tonight goes, but I think that’s a pretty safe bet.”

Lynn turned around what had been a disastrous season after joining the Dodgers in a July trade, along with reliever Joe Kelly, that sent outfielder Trayce Thompson and two prospects to the Chicago White Sox.

In 21 starts prior to the trade, Lynn was 6-9 with a 6.47 ERA. In 11 starts after the trade, he went 7-2 with a 4.36 ERA.

Lynn threw to teammates in an intrasquad scrimmage on Thursday. Prior to that, his last competitive outing was Sept. 29 in San Francisco, when he allowed two hits and two runs in six innings of the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over the Giants.

The right-hander has not faced the Diamondbacks since July 29, 2020.

“I think for us it’s a guy that’s been there before and really just kind of trusting the fact that he’s going to be there and pitch well and to have a group of arms behind him,” Roberts said of Lynn. “I don’t know what that start’s going to look like, but I feel very confident. And that’s why we got him – to come here and pitch big innings for us.”

Lynn’s postseason resume is long. He earned a World Series ring as a rookie reliever with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. He made his first postseason starts the following year, both in the NL Championship Series against the eventual champion Giants.

In 2013, Lynn pitched two scoreless innings to complete the Cardinals’ 13-inning victory over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS. Four days later, he started Game 4 and pitched 5⅓ innings to earn the victory in another Cardinals win.

Although he pitched six strong innings in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS in Los Angeles, Lynn did not factor into the decision in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win.

This year Lynn led the major leagues in home runs allowed by a pitcher, including 16 in his 11 starts with the Dodgers. Only three Dodger pitchers allowed more home runs this season.

Right-hander Ryan Pepiot will figure into the pitching plan for Game 3 too, Roberts said. Pepiot started three games for the Dodgers after missing most of the season with an intercostal muscle injury. He pitched “bulk innings” out of the bullpen in another five games, averaging more than five innings per appearance overall.

Pepiot, who faced teammates in an intrasquad setting Friday, went 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA overall. Coincidentally, the 36-year-old Lynn and 26-year-old Pepiot are among only four active major league players born in Indianapolis.

The Diamondbacks are expected to counter with right-hander Brandon Pfaadt in Game 3. Manager Torey Lovullo declined to officially name Pfaadt.

TIPPING POINT

Dodgers pitching Mark Prior said he thought Clayton Kershaw’s “stuff was fine” despite his poor results in Game 1.

“It probably ticked up a little,” Prior said. “But I think it was standard-type stuff where he’s been over the last month or so.”

The Diamondbacks were all over that stuff, swinging at 24 of the 25 pitches Kershaw put in the strike zone while facing eight hitters and retiring just one in the worst start of his career.

Could the Diamondbacks have known something – through pitch-tipping, perhaps – that allowed them to be so aggressive and successful against Kershaw?

“Those are always factors. It’s kind of hard to say,” Prior said. “Sometimes it’s hit or miss on those things.

“Whether it’s sequencing, whether it’s tendencies, whether it’s the game itself – again, they have a good lineup and they’ve seen him a ton of times. So they have some familiarity with him. At the end of the day, it’s hard for me and it’s hard for us in general with all the things we look at, whether it’s tipping, whether it’s analytics stuff or his delivery – for me to say it’s the one thing.

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“At the end of the day, it’s performance and they performed better than we did.”

ALSO

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said the entire team participated in Sunday’s “optional” workout at Dodger Stadium. “Everybody’s attitude was good,” he said. … Lovullo spent Sunday’s off-day with his mother at her home in Westlake Village. “I felt like I was in outer space,” he said. “It was a totally relaxing moment.” … Roberts re-affirmed that Kershaw and right-hander Emmet Sheehan are lined up to pitch in Game 4 of the NLDS, with Kershaw starting and Sheehan coming out of the bullpen. Both pitchers threw bullpen sessions at Dodger Stadium on Monday. … Jake Gelof, the Dodgers’ second-round pick in the 2023 amateur draft, was named California League Player of the Month for September. The Rancho Cucamonga third baseman batted .308/.341/.744 and led the league in home runs (five), RBIs (17), total bases (29) and slugging percentage (.744).

UP NEXT

The Dodgers have a day off Tuesday.

​ Orange County Register