Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner reach quarterfinals at Indian Wells

• March 13, 2024

INDIAN WELLS — Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz avenged a previous loss to Fabian Marozsan, winning, 6-3, 6-3, on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open as the top remaining seed in the men’s draw.

A day after “lucky loser” Luca Nardi stunned No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round at Indian Wells, Alcaraz advanced easily over the Hungarian who ousted him from the Italian Open in May. Marozsan was a qualifier and the No. 135 player in the world when he upset Alcaraz – then on the verge of taking the top spot in the rankings – 6-3, 7-6 (4), in the third round in Rome.

“Honestly, I was nervous before the match. I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz said. “Playing against someone that beat you. … Today I knew what I had to do.”

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton, 7-6 (4), 6-1, later Tuesday for his 18th consecutive victory. The third-ranked Italian has won 15 matches in a row to start 2024, claiming titles at Melbourne and Rotterdam. It was the 150th hard-court victory for the 22-year-old Sinner, who became the first player born in the 2000s to reach that milestone.

Sinner had a set point, up 5-4 and 40-30 in the first, before Shelton was saved by a net cord. It then took Sinner another 15 minutes to close out the first set; in the second, he went up 3-0 and coasted to the victory.

Sinner advanced to the quarterfinals to play Jiri Lehecka, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz, the defending champion at Indian Wells, dropped the first set in his opening match this year but has lost just 12 games in the other six sets. He will face Alexander Zverev, who rallied after losing the first set to Alex de Minaur and won, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

On the women’s side, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 6-1, and Anastasia Potapova defeated Jasmine Paolini, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3.

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks can’t keep up with Connor Bedard, Blackhawks in lopsided loss

• March 13, 2024

By TIM CRONIN The Associated Press

CHICAGO — The Ducks saw more than enough of Connor Bedard on Tuesday night.

The 18-year-old Chicago Blackhawks rookie had a goal and four assists to set his single-game high in points, Philipp Kurashev scored twice and had two assists, and the Blackhawks hammered the Ducks, 7-2, on Tuesday night.

Ryan Donato, Seth Jones, MacKenzie Entwistle and Tyler Johnson also scored for Chicago, which has won two straight games for just the second time this season.

Brett Leason scored both goals for the Ducks, who dropped their third straight.

Bedard, the top overall pick in last June’s draft and a leading candidate for NHL Rookie of the Year, got his fifth point when he assisted on Johnson’s power-play goal midway through the third period. Bedard has eight points in two games and 10 in the last four.

“There were a lot of positives,” Bedard said. “It’s funny. I had eight straight games without a goal, then you have a couple big ones and people forget about that. Enjoy, but we’ve got to turn the page.”

The Blackhawks, suddenly resurgent on the power play, scored four times with the man advantage.

“Give them credit,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It’s a 4-2 game, and they came out the second or third shift of the third period and stripped us of the puck on a forecheck and made it 5-2 (on Entwistle’s goal). Now you’re chasing the game.”

Aside from being involved in a third-period scrap behind his net, Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek had a relatively quiet night, making 27 saves. Ducks goaltender John Gibson made 20 stops before getting into the scrap and getting pulled in favor of Lukas Dostal, who made four saves.

Leason’s short-handed goal opened the scoring midway through the first period, but the Blackhawks evened the score before their power play expired when Donato poked the puck behind Gibson during a goal-mouth scrum.

It took Chicago just 1:34 to tie the game a second time following Leason’s goal early in the second period. Kurashev took Bedard’s pass on a 2-on-1 and beat Gibson from short right wing. Nick Foligno picked up the first of his career-high four assists by starting the play.

“I think they were just good on the forecheck,” Leason said. “We just couldn’t get a lot of pucks out. They were quick to transition off our turnovers.”

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Jones’ pinch deep into Ducks’ territory resulted in the Blackhawks’ second power-play score and a 3-2 lead, with Bedard picking up an assist.

“That’s nice for a change after being on the other side of it,” Foligno said. “We’ve been a work in progress. It’s nice to see us get rewarded for the hard work we’ve put in.”

Chicago made it 4-2 with 28 seconds left in the middle period when Bedard scored his 20th of the season, set up by Kurashev, who collected his 100th NHL point. Bedard is the first Blackhawk to score 20 goals as an 18-year-old since Ed Olczyk did it in 70 games as a rookie in the 1984-85 season.

Forward Andreas Athanasiou returned to the Blackhawks’ lineup after missing 60 games with an injured groin. He set up Entwistle’s goal.

UP NEXT

Ducks at Minnesota on Thursday at 5 p.m. PT

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Margarita baseball knocks off St. John Bosco with Trevor Banning’s grand slam

• March 13, 2024

Trevor Banning (1) of Santa Margarita, connects with the ball for a grand slam home run in a game against St. John Bosco in a Trinity League baseball game at Santa Margarita Catholic High Schoolin Rancho Santa Margarita on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Junior Trevor Banning hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning Tuesday to give Santa Margarita a 5-2 win over St. John Bosco in the Trinity League opener at Santa Margarita High.

The Eagles (7-2-1, 1-0) trailed 2-1 in the fifth inning and had the bases loaded with two outs against Braves sophomore pitcher Julian Garcia.

Banning, who was 0 for 2 going into the at-bat, hit the ball well over the right field fence to give the Eagles the lead.

“He’s a very good pitcher and the first pitch he painted a fastball on the corner and I tipped my cap to him,” Banning said of Garcia. “Right when I hit it, I knew it was gone. It was one of the hardest balls I’ve ever hit. I didn’t even feel it off the bat.”

“He’s a very underrated player,” Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec said. “He’s a big time athlete and competitor. A lot of people are going to know his name in the future.”

The loss was the first of the season for St. John Bosco (6-1, 0-1).

Santa Margarita went 14-1 last season and won its first Trinity League championship, and ended a 19-year drought since it was the co-champions of the Serra League in 2004.

The Eagles went on to lose to JSerra in last season’s CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship game, but won the CIF SoCal Regional championship.

“You have to fight for every win you can get in this league,” Malec said. “We are a young group and getting acclimated to the Trinity League with a win is huge for us.”

Both starting pitchers allowed baserunners but showed flashes of excellence on the mound.

Garcia had four strikeouts in five innings for the Braves and at one point retired eight Santa Margarita hitters in a row.

Ole Miss signee Cade Townsend got the win for the Eagles. He allowed two runs over five innings with six strikeouts.

“His fastball was electric and his changeup was the best I’ve seen it all year,” Malec said of Townsend.

Santa Margarita scored first when UCLA signee Logan De Groot drove in Brody Schumaker with a double in the first inning.

Schumaker, the son of Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, went 2 for 3 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.

St. John Bosco took the lead in the third with a two-run double by Zach Woodson to give the Braves a 2-1 lead.

After Banning’s grand slam, Chris Saucedo pitched two scoreless innings for the Eagles to earn the save. The junior escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning with a soft groundout.

Owen Tomich went 2 for 3 with a stolen base and a run for St. John Bosco. Aiden Olguin pitched a perfect inning of relief for the Braves.

The two teams play again Wednesday at St. John Bosco and wrap their season series Friday at Santa Margarita. Junior Ethan Russell will start on the mound Wednesday for the Eagles.

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​ Orange County Register 

Trump wins delegates needed to become GOP’s presumptive nominee for third straight election

• March 13, 2024

By JILL COLVIN (Associated Press)

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Donald Trump, whose single turbulent term in the White House transformed the Republican Party, tested the resilience of democratic institutions in the U.S. and threatened alliances abroad, will lead the GOP in a third consecutive presidential election after clinching the nomination Tuesday.

With wins in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state, Trump surpassed the 1,215-delegate threshold needed to become the presumptive Republican nominee. He’ll formally accept the nomination at the Republican National Convention in July, by which point he could be in the remarkable position of being both a presidential candidate and convicted felon. Trump has been indicted in four separate criminal investigations and his first trial, which centers on payments made to a porn actress, is set to begin March 25 in New York City.

Trump’s victory in the GOP primary ushers in what will almost certainly be an extraordinarily negative general election campaign that will tug at the nation’s already searing political and cultural divides. He’ll face President Joe Biden in the fall, pitting two deeply unpopular figures against each other in a rematch of the 2020 campaign that few voters say they want to experience again.

Thirty-eight percent of Americans viewed Trump very or somewhat favorably in a February poll conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs, compared to 41% for Biden.

Trump is attempting to return to the White House after threatening democratic norms in the U.S. He refused to accept his loss to Biden in 2020, spending months grasping at baseless conspiracy theories of election fraud that were roundly rejected by the courts and his own attorney general. His rage during a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, helped rile up a mob of supporters who later violently attacked the U.S. Capitol in an effort to disrupt the congressional certification of Biden’s win.

Only in the wake of the insurrection, with storefronts in the nation’s capital boarded up and military vehicles parked on streets to prevent further violence, did Trump accept the reality that Biden would become president. He has since called Jan. 6 “a beautiful day” and aligned himself with those have been imprisoned for their actions — many for assaulting police officers — labeling them “hostages” and demanding their release.

Trump has been ambivalent about other basic democratic ideals during his 2024 campaign. He has not committed to accepting the results of this year’s election and, during a December interview on Fox News, suggested he would be a dictator for the first day of a new administration. He has aligned himself with autocratic leaders of other countries, most notably Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

Such alliances are a departure from the longstanding posture of the U.S., which has focused on strengthening democracies abroad. But a Trump election could upend U.S. support for Ukraine after its invasion by Russia. And it could have dramatic implications for NATO.

During his years in the White House, Trump often derided the transatlantic alliance as antiquated and lamented that some countries weren’t spending enough on their own defense. He has maintained that critique this year, causing a stir on both sides of the Atlantic in February when he told a rally crowd that he once warned members that he would not only refuse to defend countries that were “delinquent,” but that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to them.

Legal trouble

Trump becomes the GOP’s standard-bearer at a time of profound legal trouble, raising the personal stakes of an election that could determine whether he faces the prospect of time behind bars. He faces 91 felony charges in cases that span from the New York hush money case to his efforts to overturn the election and his hoarding of classified documents.

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While the New York case is moving forward this month, there’s significant uncertainty about the trajectory of the other, more serious cases, raising the prospect that they may not be decided until after the election.

The Republican Party’s rules for its convention do not address what might happen if the presumptive nominee is convicted of a crime. A conviction wouldn’t bar Trump from continuing to run, though a felon has never been a major party nominee or won the White House.

If he were to win in November, Trump could appoint an attorney general who would dismiss the federal charges he faces, a remarkable possibility that would undermine the Justice Department’s traditional independence from the White House.

In addition to the criminal cases, Trump owes in excess of $500 million in fines and interest after a judge in New York ruled he had engaged in a scheme to inflate his net worth to obtain favorable financing. He was ordered to pay $355 million, plus interest, in that case — adding to the $88.3 million he already owed writer E. Jean Carroll after he was found liable of defamation and sexual abuse.

Trump, so far, has deftly used the legal cases as a rallying cry, portraying them as a plot hatched by Democrats to keep him out of power. That argument proved powerful among GOP primary voters, with whom Trump remains a deeply popular figure.

He now enters the general election phase of the campaign in a competitive position, with voters frustrated by the current state of the economy after years of sharp inflation, despite robust growth and low unemployment, as well as growing concern about the influx of migrants across the southern border. As he did with success in 2016, Trump is seizing on immigration this year, deploying increasingly heated and inflammatory rhetoric in ways that often animate his supporters.

The 77-year-old Trump is aided by Biden’s perceived weaknesses. The 81-year-old president is broadly unpopular, with deep reservations among voters in both parties about his age and ability to assume the presidency for another four years, though he is not much older than Trump.

Biden is also struggling to replicate the coalition that ushered him into the presidency four years ago as some in his party, particularly younger voters and those on the left, have condemned his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas.

Trump’s headwinds

While those dynamics may play in Trump’s favor, he faces stiff headwinds in winning support beyond his base. A notable chunk of GOP primary voters backed his rivals, including Nikki Haley, who ended her campaign after the Super Tuesday races but has not endorsed Trump. Many of those voters have expressed ambivalence about backing him. He’ll have to change that if he wants to win the states that will likely decide the election, such as Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — each of which he lost in 2020.

It remains unclear how Trump’s legal cases will resonate in the general election, particularly among suburban voters, women and independents. Trump’s role in appointing the justices who overturned the constitutional right to an abortion could prove a liability in swing states, where women and independent voters are especially influential. He’s also made a string of racist comments, including an assertion that his criminal indictments boosted his support among Black Americans, that aren’t likely to win over more moderate voters.

Still, Trump’s speedy path to the nomination reflects more than a year of quiet work by his team to encourage states to adopt favorable delegate-selection rules, including pushing for winner-take-all contests that prevent second-place finishers from amassing delegates.

That helped Trump become the presumptive nominee much earlier than in recent presidential elections. Biden didn’t win enough delegates to formally become his party’s leader until June 2020. During his 2016 bid, Trump won the needed delegates by May.

This year, Trump handily dispatched his Republican primary rivals, sweeping the early voting states that typically set the tone for the campaign. The field included a range of prominent Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Haley, his former U.N. ambassador, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Mike Pence, who was Trump’s vice president.

At one point, DeSantis was ahead of Trump in early state polls. But he wilted in the national spotlight, failing to live up to sky-high expectations, despite $168 million in campaign and outside spending. DeSantis dropped out of the race after losing Iowa — a state he had staked his campaign on — and endorsed Trump.

In the end, Haley was Trump’s last challenger. She only won the District of Columbia and Vermont before ending her campaign.

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Mater Dei girls basketball player Addison Deal commits to Iowa

• March 13, 2024

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A challenging winter for Mater Dei girls basketball player Addison Deal brightened considerably Tuesday with her commitment to one of the best collegiate programs.

A beaming hue of yellow radiated from the junior’s social media page as she announced her commitment to Iowa.

5 Addison Deal (no. 12 espnW Super 60) has committed to Iowa!@deal_addie | @IowaWBB pic.twitter.com/8Dv0GkZmfb

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) March 12, 2024

The 6-foot guard missed most of this past season with a sprained ankle.

“GOD IS GOODDD” Deal posted on social media after committing to the three-time defending Big Ten Conference champion.

“Very happy for Addie and her family,” former Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said. “She has had to sit and watch for a few months now and it’s great to see her fired up. Hopefully she can be back on the court soon.”

Iowa (29-4), ranked second in the nation, is led by high-scoring guard Caitlin Clark. The senior recently became the all-time leading scorer for NCAA Division I basketball — women’s or men’s.

Last season, Clark helped lead the Hawkeyes to a runner-up finish to LSU in the NCAA Tournament.

“I chose Iowa because of the coaching staff, culture, the conference, style of play and competitive level Iowa has been playing at,” Deal said. “And, of course, it didn’t hurt that Caitlin has all the success she’s had at Iowa.”

“Caitlin has definitely helped put a national spotlight on Iowa and she’s now a household name,” Deal added. “

Deal, The Register’s player of the year last season, suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Ontario Christian in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona on Dec. 21. It was the Monarchs’ 13th game of the season.

In the 2022-23 season, Deal led Mater Dei in scoring by averaging 15 points, finished second in rebounding (5.3) and tied for the team lead in steals (2.7).

She played her freshman season at Pacifica Christian, averaging over 20 points in leading the Tritons to the CIF-SS Division 4A title.

Kiernan called Iowa a “great fit” for Deal, the No. 12 recruit in the class of 2025 according to HoopGurlz.

“She’s a big guard who can score, pass and rebound,” Kiernan said. “Iowa is a very up-tempo team that likes to push the pace. Addie will be good for them.”

Please send girls basketball news to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X and Instagram

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​ Orange County Register 

California’s secretive approach to lawmaking could use some sunshine

• March 13, 2024

It’s National Sunshine Week, launched in 2005 by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to highlight the importance of public access to government information.

In California, we’re marking it by trying to figure out how a new law raising the wages of fast food workers ended up with a controversial and disputed exemption for Panera Bread restaurants, and why everyone in on the negotiations had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

So the outlook for sunshine in California is, at best, partly cloudy.

The story of this new fast food workers law begins in September 2022, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act. The law established a 10-member council in the government to establish wages, hours and working conditions in one particular sector of the economy. It applied to fast food chains.

Before the ink on the governor’s signature was dry, the restaurant industry launched a signature-gathering effort to qualify a referendum for the ballot. That froze the implementation of the law until the voters had the opportunity to decide its fate in the November 2024 election.

This caused great anger among the union special interests that lobbied for the bill, and eventually the result was another bill that aimed to reform the referendum process. Signed into law by Newsom on September 8, 2023, Assembly Bill 421 changed the law to allow the proponents of a referendum to withdraw it from the ballot up to 131 days before the election at which it would go before voters.

This is what enabled the backroom negotiations for a new law. The result was AB 1228, signed by the governor on September 28, 2023.

AB 1228 looks a lot like AB 257, but it removed a provision that made fast food corporate owners financially liable, along with franchisees, for workplace violations. The franchisees were left with a law that requires a minimum wage increase to $20 an hour effective April 1, and also sets up a government council that functions like a permanent union contract bargaining session, except without the bargaining.

Panera Bread was exempted, Bloomberg News reported, after Gov. Newsom pushed for a strangely specific exemption for fast food restaurants that produce and sell bread as a stand-alone menu item as long as they were doing it before September 15, 2023. Newsom denies pushing for it, and denies, without evidence, that Panera Bread is exempt.

KCRA’s Ashley Zavala reported that the final negotiations over AB 1228 were conducted by the Service Employees International Union, which demanded that the other parties at the table sign non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs. The other parties were fast food corporations and industry trade groups. Franchisees were not at the table. They were, as the old saying goes, on the menu.

From the editorial board: Non-disclosure agreements in Sacramento turn lawmaking into plunder

The referendum “reform” that spawned these secret negotiations was modeled on a 2014 law that did something similar for initiatives. Senate Bill 1253 allowed initiative proponents to remove their measure from the ballot after it had qualified, if they were able to work out an acceptable deal with the legislature for something else.

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That’s how Proposition 19 got on the November ballot in 2020. The California Association of Realtors originally wanted a measure that would provide portability of property tax bills for longtime owners over age 55 who wished to move to a new home and keep their low property taxes. After going through the Sacramento sausage factory, the measure that ended up on the ballot had the blessing of the California Professional Firefighters and  a massive tax increase on property passed from parents to children.

Other initiatives that qualified for the ballot and then disappeared after private negotiations include 2022 measures that addressed plastic waste and medical malpractice lawsuit caps. In both cases, the legislature passed a compromise bill.

This process has allowed the direct democracy powers in the state constitution, which date to 1911, to become just one more grind in the sausage factory. Voters can sign petitions all day long, but in many cases all they’re doing is empowering a special interest group to wield leverage with state lawmakers, or other special interest groups, in secret negotiations.

Repeal AB 421 and SB 1253. Let the sun shine.

Write [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @Susan_Shelley

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Tuesday, March 12

• March 13, 2024

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

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Tuesday, March 12

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

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

TUESDAY’S SCORES

BASEBALL

TRINITY LEAGUE

Santa Margarita 5, St. John Bosco 2

SM: Townsend (W, 5IP, 6H, 2R, 6K). Banning 1-3, HR, 4RBI. Schumacher 2-3, 2SB, 2R. De Groot 2B, RBI.

Other Trinity scores

Orange Lutheran 4, JSerra 1

Mater Dei 5, Servite 1

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

University 8, Portola 0

Uni: Berger (W, 7IP, H, 0R, 9K). Weston 2-3, 3B, R. Lobianco 2-3, RBI

Por: Tsuge 1-2.

Other PCL scores

Irvine 7, Sage Hill 2

Woodbridge 7, Laguna Hills 4

Beckman 0, Northwood 0, tie

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

San Juan Hills 1, Aliso Niguel 0

SJH: Plisinski (W, 5IP, H, 0R, 3K). Gravdal (Sv, 1IP, 0R, 0H). Meeker 1-2, RBI.

AN: Schaff (4IP, 4H, 0R, K). Nadolski 1-4.

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Bolsa Grande 9, Santiago 3

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE

Ocean View 4, Garden Grove 0

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Costa Mesa 2, Calvary Chapel 0

CM: Clark (W, CG 7IP 5H 0R 2K). Comte 1-3, 1R. Morales 1-2, RBI.

Estancia 8, Santa Ana 1

Est: Moyer (W 4-1, 5IP, ER, 4H, 5K). Uchytil 3-4, HR, 3R, RBI. Humphries 2-5, 2R, RBI, 2 2B. Witte 1-1, 2RBI, 3BB.

Other OCL scores

St. Margaret’s 15, Orange 0

NONLEAGUE

Edison 4, Katella 3

Edi: Viers (6IP, 6H, 0R, 6K). Johnson 2-4, RBI. Nathan 1-3, 2B, RBI.

Kat: Moreno 2-4, 2B, 2RBI. Barba 2-4.

Fullerton 6, Esperanza 3

Ful: Advita (W, 5IP, ER, 3H, 3K). Fitzgerald (Sv, IP, 2K). Meni 2-2, 2R, BB. Fany 1-3, R.

Other nonleague scores

Los Osos 7, Capistrano Valley 1

El Dorado 5, Mira Costa 0

Hart 2, Villa Park 1

Murrieta Valley 2, Trabuco Hills 0

Savanna 6, Westminster 3

Yorba Linda 8, Covina 3

Oxford Academy 7, Segerstrom 6

Dana Hills 7, Corona del Mar 0

Brea Olinda 2, Sonora 1

SOFTBALL

ORANGE LEAGUE

Savanna 11, Magnolia 0

Western 14, Santa Ana Valley 1

Anaheim 21, Century 1

SUNSET LEAGUE

Huntington Beach 3, Edison 1

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Capistrano Valley Christian 6, Southlands Christian 1

NONLEAGUE

Mission Viejo 5, Santa Margarita 4 (8 innings)

Note: Mission Viejo’s Sofia Elliott struck out nine in five scoreless innings and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth on a squeeze bunt.

Other nonleague scores

Tustin 17, Saddleback 0

Downey 14, Buena Park 4

Sunny Hills 4, California 2

Oxford Academy 10, Orange 0

Canyon 10, El Dorado 0

Los Alamitos 9, Cypress 1

San Clemente 6, San Juan Hills 3

Yorba Linda 10, Esperanza 5

Canyon 10, El Dorado 0

El Modena 11, Foothill 2

Brea Olinda 9, Villa Park 4

Dana Hills 9, Godinez 0

Crean Lutheran 12, Estancia 2

El Toro 3, Garden Grove 2

JSerra 8, Tesoro 5

Beckman 2, Aliso Niguel 1

Calvary Chapel 6, La Quinta 1

Costa Mesa 8, Whitney 6

BOYS GOLF

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Kennedy 233, Tustin 244

TRINITY LEAGUE

Orange Lutheran 192, St. John Bosco 236

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Foothill 192, Villa Park 217

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

St. Margaret’s 195, Katella 301

Orange 300, Westminster 308

NONLEAGUE

Fullerton 186, Canyon 190

Fullerton GC (par 33)

Medalist: Morris (Can) 32

Other nonleague scores

Sunny Hills 210, Valencia 219

Sunny Hills 183, Mater Dei 191

Gahr 245, Oxford Academy 264

BOYS TENNIS

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Yorba Linda 11, Villa Park 7

Foothill 9, Canyon 9 (FH wins on games, 85-78)

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE

Brea Olinda 10, Esperanza 8

El Dorado 16, El Modena 2

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Kennedy 9, Pacifica 9 (Ken. wins on games, 75-59)

ORANGE LEAGUE

Magnolia 16, Century 2

Western 18, Savanna 0

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Capistrano Valley 10, Trabuco Hills 8

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Beckman 13, Northwood 5

TRINITY LEAGUE

JSerra 15, Orange Lutheran 3

Santa Margarita 17, St. John Bosco 1

Mater Dei 10, Servite 8

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE

Ocean View 10, Godinez 8

605 LEAGUE

Whitney 15, Oxford Academy 3

NONLEAGUE

Corona del Mar 18, Fountain Valley 0

Edison 14, Laguna Beach 4

Crean Lutheran 15, St. Margaret’s 3

Tustin 16, Orange 2

BOYS LACROSSE

NONLEAGUE

El Modena 8, Lakewood 4

Beckman 10, Yorba Linda 9

San Juan Hills 9. Crean Lutheran 8

JSerra 14, Aliso Niguel 5

GIRLS LACROSSE

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

El Dorado 17, El Modena 1

NONLEAGUE

Mater Dei 25, Los Alamitos 10

Goals: (MD) Hefner 5, Evans 5, Filbert 4, van der Steen 4

Other nonleague scores

JSerra 10, Newport Harbor 4

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

ORANGE LEAGUE

Western def. Savanna, 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13

Anaheim def. Santa Ana Valley, 3-0

Magnolia def. Century, 25-14, 25-16, 25-17

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Cypress def. Crean Lutheran, 25-23, 28-26, 20-25, 22-25, 15-12

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Mission Viejo def. Capistrano Valley, 25-20, 25-20, 27-25

El Toro def. Dana Hills, 18-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

Trabuco Hills def. Aliso Niguel, 3-2

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

La Quinta def. Los Amigos, 25-17, 25-12, 25-20

Rancho Alamitos def. Santiago, 3-0

FREEWAY LEAGUE

Buena Park def. La Habra, 3-0

Fullerton def. Troy, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-14

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Beckman def. Portola, 20-25, 25-22, 25-13, 25-22

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Yorba Linda def. Foothill, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23

Canyon def. El Modena, 25-17, 25-14, 25-17

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE

El Dorado def. Esperanza, 3-0

Villa Park def. Brea Olinda, 25-17, 25-20, 26-24

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

San Gabriel Academy def. Pacifica Christian, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15, 25-15

Fairmont Prep def. Western Christian, 25-20, 25-11, 23-25, 25-21

EXPRESS LEAGUE

Orangewood Academy def. Vista Meridian, 25-11, 25-21, 25-14

Tarbut V’Torah def. Acaciawood Academy, 3-1

605 LEAGUE

Oxford Academy def. Artesia, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15

ACADEMY LEAGUE

Samueli Academy def. Calvary Chapel/Downey, 25-14, 25-16, 25-16

NONLEAGUE

Newport Harbor def. San Clemente, 25-16, 25-11, 25-17

University def. Northwood, 3-1

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

Tesoro 5, Dana Hills 0

SURF LEAGUE

Edison 5, Newport Harbor 0

TRINITY LEAGUE

Orange Lutheran 5, Rosary 1

JSerra 5, Santa Margarita 0

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Sage Hill 2, Orangewood Academy 1

BOYS SWIMMING

NONLEAGUE

Los Alamitos 115, Laguna Beach 29

GIRLS SWIMMING

NONLEAGUE

Los Alamitos 109, Laguna Beach 37

​ Orange County Register 

How soon could China send more giant pandas 🐼 to the San Diego Zoo?

• February 23, 2024

By JULIE WATSON

SAN DIEGO — China plans to send a new pair of giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo, renewing its longstanding gesture of friendship toward the United States after recalling nearly all the iconic bears on loan to U.S. zoos as relations soured between the two nations.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association has signed cooperation agreements with zoos in San Diego and Madrid, the Spanish capital, and is in talks with zoos in Washington, D.C. and Vienna, the Chinese organization said, describing the deals as a new round of collaboration on panda conservation.

San Diego Zoo officials told The Associated Press that if all permits and other requirements are approved, two bears, a male and a female, are expected to arrive as early as the end of summer, about five years after the zoo sent its last pandas back to China.

“We’re very excited and hopeful,” said Megan Owen of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and vice president of Wildlife Conservation Science. “They’ve expressed a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to re-initiate panda cooperation starting with the San Diego Zoo.”

Zoos typically pay a fee of $1 million a year for two pandas, with the money earmarked for China’s conservation efforts, according to a 2022 report by America’s Congressional Research Service.

In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping raised hopes his country would start sending pandas to the U.S. again after he and President Joe Biden convened in the Bay Area for their first face-to-face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions.

China is considering a pair that includes a female descendent of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, two of the zoo’s former residents, said Owen, an expert in panda behavior who has worked in San Diego and China.

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Bai Yun, who was born in captivity in China, lived at the zoo for more than 20 years and gave birth to six cubs there. She and her son were the zoo’s last pandas and returned to China in 2019.

Gao Gao was born in the wild in China and lived at the San Diego Zoo from 2003 to 2018 before being sent back.

Decades of conservation efforts in the wild and study in captivity saved the giant panda species from extinction, increasing its population from fewer than 1,000 at one time to more than 1,800 in the wild and captivity.

The black-and-white bears have long been the symbol of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. China later loaned pandas to zoos to help breed cubs and boost the population.

The U.S., Spain and Austria were among the first countries to work with China on panda conservation, and 28 pandas have been born in those countries, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. The latest collaboration will include research on disease prevention and habitat protection, and contribute to China’s national panda park construction, it said.

“We look forward to further expanding the research outcomes on the conservation of endangered species such as giant pandas, and promoting mutual understanding and friendship among peoples through the new round of international cooperation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing.

Demands for the return of giant pandas, known as China’s “national treasure,” grew among the Chinese public as unproven allegations that U.S. zoos mistreated the pandas flooded Chinese social media.

Fears over the future of so-called panda diplomacy escalated last year when zoos in Memphis, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., returned their pandas to China, leaving only four pandas in the United States, all at the zoo in Atlanta. That loan agreement expires later this year.

Many loan agreements were for 10 years and often were extended well beyond. But negotiations last year to extend the agreements with U.S. zoos or send more pandas did not produce results. China watchers speculated that Beijing was gradually pulling its pandas from Western nations due to deteriorating diplomatic relations with the U.S. and other countries.

Then on Nov. 15, 2023, a week after the National Zoo’s pandas departed for China, Xi spoke at a dinner in downtown San Francisco with American business executives and signaled that more pandas might be sent. He said he learned the San Diego Zoo and people in California “very much look forward to welcoming pandas back.”

“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi said.

The San Diego Zoo continued to work with their Chinese counterparts even after it no longer had any pandas.

Owen said China is particularly interested in exchanging information on the zoo’s successful breeding of pandas in captivity. Giant pandas are difficult to breed in part because the female’s reproductive window is extremely narrow, lasting only 48 to 72 hours each year.

Bai Yun’s first cub, Hua Mei, was also the first panda born through artificial insemination to survive into adulthood outside of China, and would go on to produce 12 cubs on her own after she was sent to China.

Bai Yun, meanwhile, remained at the zoo where she gave birth to two more females and three males. With cameras in her den, researchers monitored her, contributing to the understanding of maternal care behavior, Owen said.

“We have a lot of institutional knowledge and capacity from our last cooperative agreement, which we will be able to parlay into this next chapter, as well as training the next generation of panda conservationists,” she said.

Chinese experts would travel with the bears and spend months in San Diego, Owen said.

She said the return of the bears is not only good for San Diego but the giant panda’s recovery as a species.

“We do talk about panda diplomacy all the time,” Owen said. “Diplomacy is a critical part of conservation in any number of contexts. …. If we can’t learn to work together, you know, in sometimes difficult situations or situations that are completely out of the control of conservationists, then we’re not going to succeed.”

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register