Disneyland closes 4 attractions during busy festival season

• February 23, 2024

Disneyland will close four attractions for seasonal refurbishments during the biggest seasonal food festival of the year and just before Spring Break crowds begin flocking to the Anaheim theme parks.

Radiator Springs Racers, Incredicoaster, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and the Sailing Ship Columbia will temporarily close in late February or early March as part of Disneyland’s standard refurbishment schedule.

ALSO SEE: What to expect at Disney’s Food & Wine Festival 2024

The four new attraction closures join the Astro Orbitor, Grizzly River Run, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and “Fantasmic” that were already shuttered for refurbishment.

The timing of the attraction closures coincides with the 2024 Food & Wine Festival that starts March 1 at Disney California Adventure.

DCA’s Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land will close Monday, Feb. 26 through March 1 for a brief refurbishment.

The Incredicoaster in Pixar Pier will go down March 4-14 for a slightly longer seasonal refurbishment.

ALSO SEE: 7 reasons Disneyland characters want to unionize

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail will close on March 4 for an extended refurbishment that will stretch though at least early April, according to the Disneyland website.

The ropes, nets and interactive elements in the wilderness adventure play area are expected to be refurbished or replaced during the closure, according to MiceChat.

A temporary closure of the Sailing Ship Columbia will be short-lived on Monday, Feb. 26 through Thursday, Feb. 29.

The Mark Twain Riverboat is scheduled to return Saturday, Feb. 24 from a five-month refurbishment.

Scaffolding has surrounded the paddlewheeler since mid-September while the riverboat that plays a key role in “Fantasmic” gets a heavy dose of TLC during the nighttime spectacular’s extended downtime.

ALSO SEE: Is Disneyland’s new Pixar Place Hotel worth $500 a night?

The Grizzly River Run will remain closed through Thursday, Feb. 29 during the coldest part of the year in typically sunny Southern California when fewer visitors want to get soaked on the water ride.

Astro Orbitor closed in late November for an extensive refurbishment. The rocket spinner ride at the entrance to Tomorrowland in Disneyland is expected to return March 14.

The Haunted Mansion closed in January for an extensive renovation of the outdoor queue area that will add a new accessibility elevator for wheelchair users exiting the ride and a new retail shop at the attraction’s exit. Disneyland has not announced a reopening date for the popular dark ride.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland doubles the number of Star Wars Nite events

The latest temporary closures don’t include Splash Mountain — which is undergoing an extensive conversion into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The Critter Country log flume ride is scheduled to reopen with a new “Princess and the Frog” theme in late 2024.

“Fantasmic” will return May 24 after a yearlong hiatus following an inferno that engulfed the show’s audio-animatronic fire-breathing dragon.

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Also not on the temporarily “out of order” list are several attractions that never returned following the yearlong pandemic closure that shuttered Disneyland and DCA.

Disneyland’s Star Wars Launch Bay and DCA’s Blue Sky Cellar are being used for Imagination Campus — an educational travel workshop that teaches students about the arts and sciences used in Disney theme parks.

The Magic Eye Theater in Tomorrowland remains dark with no upcoming show in the works.

The Hyperion Theater in Hollywood Land briefly returned for a summertime run of “Rogers: The Musical” before closing again with nothing planned for the 2,000-seat Broadway caliber venue.

The Fantasyland Theatre no longer has regularly scheduled shows after the “Tale of the Lion King” ended its run in early January.

​ Orange County Register 

It is illegal to redact your address on your registration card, but there are options

• February 23, 2024

Q. Honk: I have redacted the street address, the city and the ZIP code from my Department of Motor Vehicles registration paperwork that typically goes in the dashboard. Does this violate any law? The garage door opener is in the car, so thieves could get into my car away from home, learn where I live and gain entry into the garage. The DMV registration card should not show where you live.

– Bruno Gutierrez, Colton

A. You can’t alter the registration card, Bruno, or you could face a fix-it ticket or a citation for an infraction, said Jake Sanchez, an officer and spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. How such a violation is handled is an officer’s discretion.

Officer Sanchez understood your safety concerns, and offered up a couple of ideas.

Put in it your wallet, or perhaps in a see-through photo sleeve attached to you keys so it is always with you when you drive.

Or take out a P.O. Box and make that the address on the registration, if permitted by the DMV with your type of driver’s license.

Now, if someone creates a counterfeit registration card or forges one to mislead the authorities, the ante gets substantially higher.

“That would be the felony side of things,” Sanchez said.

By the way, an officer can pull up the registration info via the computer in his or her squad car, so long as the database is up, using the license-plate number or the vehicle-identification number (VIN).

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Q. You probably get this all of the time, but what kind of license plate is this?

– Mark Porterfield, Laguna Beach

A. Over the years, Honk has covered more ground than tall fescue, Mark, but he doesn’t recall answering this question.

Mark popped over a photo of a plate he saw in a Los Angeles parking lot. It shows a red “A,” a two-digit number and then a smaller “R1.”

The A signifies the vehicle owner has been in the state Assembly, the R means the person is retired from the state body and the 1 indicates it is the second plate issued that is tied to that specific office.

Somewhat similar plates are also available to state senators and U.S. Congress members of both houses.

“Retired plates can be issued to multiple former or retired (state Legislature) members for the same district,” said Ronald Ongtoaboc, a DMV spokesman. “Legislative plates are not issued to retired members of the U.S. House or Senate.”

Might be kind of fun to have such plates if you qualify, but the perk isn’t free. Under the Vehicle Code, it costs an extra $53 to register and then an extra $43 each year.

HONKIN’ DASHCAMS: A colleague of Honk’s is writing a story about dashcams. Do you have one in your car or truck, or have a GoPro or similar device on your motorcycle helmet? Would you talk to the reporter about if? If so, please drop Honk an email.

HONKIN’ FACTS: Passing through John Wayne Airport’s in January were 884,884 passengers, about 1% more than that month in 2023. Southwest Airlines was the clear leader with 280,796, while American Airlines, at 149,607, and United Airlines, with 135,022, followed.

To ask Honk questions, reach him at [email protected]. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk

​ Orange County Register 

State government is already forgetting telehealth’s important role in helping patients

• February 23, 2024

Many Californians used telehealth services for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid rise in telehealth during the pandemic was made possible, in part, by emergency actions that loosened regulations related to telehealth care. Unfortunately, California’s emergency actions have since expired. The state’s antiquated licensing laws and regulations prevent patients from accessing needed health care.

A recent Reason Foundation report finds that California lags behind many other states in adopting best practices for telehealth. In particular, California’s outdated regulations raise obstacles for patients seeking care from nurses and doctors licensed in other states.

Nearly nine million Californians live in areas with shortages of primary care health professionals, meaning there aren’t enough primary care practitioners in their region to meet the demand for care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that an additional 1,460 primary care practitioners are needed to alleviate these shortages.

Similarly, as California’s population ages over the next decade, workforce shortages in the health care industry are expected to worsen. Projections from the Healthforce Center at the University of California—San Francisco suggest that the state will require an additional 4,100 primary care clinicians by 2030 to meet demand. When surgeons and other specialty physicians are included, projections indicate that California will need an additional 32,000 physicians by 2030–the largest need among the 50 states.

Telehealth technologies can help address these shortages by enabling patients to connect with doctors remotely, regardless of their physical locations. However, California requires out-of-state health care professionals to obtain an additional California-issued license to provide telehealth services directly to people in California. Unless they go through the costly and burdensome process of obtaining a California license, out-of-state practitioners can only give a telehealth consultation if a California-licensed physician is ultimately responsible for the patient’s care. As a result, many Californians must travel to other states for the health care they need.

In 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1369, allowing cross-state telehealth services under very limited circumstances. Under the law, physicians licensed in other states may deliver telehealth care to California patients with an “immediately life-threatening disease or condition.” In other words, this flexibility is only available when there is “a reasonable likelihood that death will occur within a matter of months” and the patient “has not been accepted to participate in the nearest clinical trial to his or her home.”

While the law is a positive step in the right direction, several states have gone much further in embracing cross-state telehealth for all types of patients. Florida, for example, adopted a streamlined telehealth registration process that allows out-of-state doctors and nurses to provide telehealth services in Florida without obtaining a Florida license.

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According to a recent Cicero Institute report, more than 14,000 out-of-state practitioners registered to provide telehealth services in Florida within the first two and half years of the program, and none of these practitioners received complaints that resulted in disciplinary actions. Arizona, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Utah and Vermont have adopted similar telehealth registration programs.

California is home to Silicon Valley––the global epicenter of technological innovation––but the state’s laws haven’t kept pace with changes in health care technology. With the state facing a significant and growing shortage of doctors and nurses, lawmakers should look for ways to leverage technological innovations to help meet this challenge. The most immediate improvement state leaders could make is simplifying the process for licensed out-of-state health care providers to see patients in California. By removing regulatory obstacles, more Californians can access the vital health care services they need.

Vittorio Nastasi is a policy analyst at Reason Foundation and co-author of a new study examining every state’s telehealth laws. 

​ Orange County Register 

Broadway hit ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ to make its LA premiere at the Pantages

• February 23, 2024

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will finally make its Los Angeles debut with a 19-week run at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre as part of Broadway in Hollywood’s 2024-25 season.

That’s the good news, which should leave Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins alike looking as if they’ve just been hit with the Stunning Spell.

The bad news? Fans, who’ve had to wait eight years since it premiered in London, are going to have to wait even longer: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” doesn’t arrived in Los Angeles until Feb. 13, 2025, and you can wave your wand as much as you like but it won’t get here any sooner.

Broadway in Hollywood’s new season includes six productions making their Los Angeles debuts, as well the returns of “Hamilton” and “Wicked.” The season schedule unfolds as follows:

“Hamilton”: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton opens the season with a special run from Sept. 4 to Oct. 13. Note: Season ticket purchasers will get priority access to this one.

“KImberly Akimbo”: Winner of five Tony Awards in 2023, including best musical, best score, and best book, “Kimberly Akimbo” opens the season and runs Oct. 15 to Nov. 3.

“Back to the Future: The Musical”: Based on the beloved 1985 film, the musical won an Olivier Award for best new musical in its run in London’s West End, and won crowds in its run on Broadway. It runs from Nov. 5 to Dec. 1.

“Wicked”: The film version of “Wicked” is slated to open on Nov. 27. The Broadway musical from which its adapted returns to the Pantages on Dec. 4 and runs through Feb. 2. Note: Season ticket buyers also get priority access to this one.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”: The play, which picks up 19 years after the end of the last film in the Harry Potter series, won six Tonys and nine Oliviers, as well as the Guinness World Record as the most successful non-musical ever on Broadway. It runs Feb. 13, 2025 to June 22, 2025.

“A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical”: The story of singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, told in part through his music, with songs such as “Sweet Caroline,” “America,” and “Cracklin’ Rosie” among others in the score. It opens July 8, 2025 and runs through July 27, 2025.

“Some Like It Hot”: This musical adaptation of the 1959 film of the same name won four Tonys and also just just picked up the Grammy for best musical theater album. It arrives July 29, 2025 and plays the Pantages through Aug. 17, 2025.

“Shucked”: This is a musical about corn. No, seriously. It’s a comedy, possibly corny, with music and lyrics by country singer-songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, who in addition to their own releases have written hits for artists including Kacey Musgraves, Sam Hunt, Miranda Lambert, and Kelly Clarkson. It closes out the season with a run from Aug. 19, 2025 to Sept. 7, 2025.

ALSO SEE: 12 notable stage musicals coming to Southern California in early 2024

Season ticket holders can renew or buy new packages starting Friday, Feb. 23. Those who renew or purchase packages can also add “Wicked” tickets at the same time. Season ticket buyers can have first pick of “Hamilton” tickets starting March 18.

For more information and to purchase tickets see Broadwayinhollywood.com.www.broadwayinhollywood.com/

​ Orange County Register 

Pathways to progress: Navigating America’s educational reform

• February 23, 2024

In the realm of education, crises are not merely disruptions but illuminations of systemic failures that have festered beneath the surface for decades. The United States stands at a crossroads where the path forward demands not just acknowledgment of these failures but a steadfast commitment to rectifying them. The initiatives across states, from Maryland to Texas, Seattle to Las Vegas, present a tapestry of efforts that, while commendable, underscore the complexity and enormity of the task at hand.

Maryland’s legal battle against its own school district reveals a disturbing truth: Accountability in education, or the lack thereof, has profound implications on the quality of leadership and, consequently, on the outcomes we expect our institutions to deliver. The resignation of a state superintendent following a report on inadequate outcomes is not a mere administrative shuffle but a clarion call for a fundamental reassessment of how we define and measure educational success. It is the greatest threat to the United States today, yet it comes from within.

In South Carolina, the legislative crackdown on explicit material in schoolbooks is a testament to the power of policy in shaping the educational environment. It’s a clear indication that what is taught, and how it’s presented, matters deeply in molding the minds of the young. Similarly, Florida’s response to chronic absenteeism and juvenile violence through legislation is a proactive step, yet it raises questions about the root causes of these issues. Are we addressing the symptoms rather than the disease?

Alabama’s reliance on parental involvement for improving reading scores speaks to a broader principle: Education cannot be compartmentalized away from the community and family. It is a holistic endeavor that thrives on engagement and participation. Yet, the resignation of an Oklahoma principal over inappropriate content raises a poignant question: Who decides what is appropriate, and by what standards?

The push for school choice in Texas and the banning of cellphones in Seattle classrooms are efforts to reclaim the educational space for education’s sake. Yet these measures, while addressing certain aspects of the educational milieu, highlight the piecemeal approach often adopted in reform efforts. The systemic issues — the bureaucratization of education, the erosion of standards and the sidelining of merit — remain largely unaddressed.

The activism seen in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, particularly concerning teacher pay and school safety, underscores a vital aspect of the crisis: the human element. Teachers, the linchpins of the educational system, find themselves increasingly caught between bureaucratic dictates and the reality of the classroom. Their advocacy for better conditions is not just a demand for better pay or safety; it’s a cry for respect and recognition of their central role in shaping the future.

These vignettes of challenge and change across the United States, while showcasing the diversity of approaches and the depth of commitment among educators, policymakers and communities, also reveal the fragmented nature of educational reform efforts. The crisis in the classroom is not merely one of policy or practice but of philosophy. What is the purpose of education? Is it to mold citizens, to foster critical thinkers or to prepare workers for the marketplace?

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As we navigate these turbulent waters, the lessons from these states offer both caution and direction. The necessity for a multifaceted approach to reform, encompassing legal, policy, administrative and community-driven efforts, is evident. Yet, as we strive for an inclusive, equitable and high-quality educational system, the imperative to ground these efforts in a coherent philosophy of education becomes all the more urgent.

The journey toward educational reform is fraught with challenges, but it is also replete with opportunities for meaningful change. If we tackle this crisis in the classroom with diverse strategies, the successes that are occurring in some states serve as a testament to what can be achieved through determination, innovation and collaboration. Yet, as we reflect on these achievements, we must not lose sight of the larger picture: the need for a comprehensive, philosophically grounded approach to education that prepares students not just for the tests of school but for the tests of life.

Armstrong Williams is manager/sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. 

​ Orange County Register 

California court ruling could crack down on tactics to slow or block construction

• February 23, 2024

California’s perpetual conflict over housing, pitting advocates of state-level pro-development policies against defenders of local government land use authority, has often involved friction between two state laws.

One, the Housing Accountability Act, or HAA, aims to remove barriers to construction, while the older California Environmental Quality Act has been employed to delay or block specific projects.

One tactic used by local authorities to overcome the accountability law’s pro-housing provisions has been indefinitely delaying decisions on whether projects are eligible for CEQA clearance by demanding ever-more data from developers.

Last year, the Legislature, which has been strengthening HAA provisions in recent years, cracked down on CEQA delays by passing Assembly Bill 1633, carried by Assemblyman Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, where the tactic has often been employed. It decreed that excessive CEQA delays in high-density urban projects violate state law and subject officials to lawsuits.

While AB 1633 gives pro-housing advocates a new legal weapon, its applicability to only specific kinds of projects falls short of a wider overhaul of CEQA that some political figures have supported.

For instance, former Gov. Jerry Brown once described CEQA reform as “the Lord’s work,” but was unwilling to take on the heavy political burden such changes would require. If politicians are unwilling to take on CEQA reform – which would draw opposition from environmental groups, and labor unions which invoke the law to demand agreements with developers – California’s courts may do the job.

This month, a state appellate court delivered a ruling that, if not overturned by the state Supreme Court, would make it much more difficult to use CEQA to stop projects that conform to local zoning laws.

The case involved a corporation, Hilltop Group Inc., that wanted to construct a facility to recycle construction debris on a site adjacent to Interstate 15 in northern San Diego County that had been designated for industrial uses in the county’s general plan.

The county’s staff declared that the North County Environmental Resources Project was entitled to a CEQA exemption because it met the criteria of the general plan, which had been certified as compatible with CEQA. However, when residents of the area and the city of Escondido opposed the facility, citing noise, traffic and aesthetic impacts, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors declared that it needed more environmental mitigation under CEQA.

Hilltop sued and the county prevailed in the trial court, but a three-judge panel on the 4th District Court of Appeal unanimously declared that the county could not impose additional conditions because the project was compatible with the industrial zone the county created in its general plan.

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Chris Elmendorf, a UC Davis law professor who is the state’s foremost authority on development laws, says the appellate court ruling is a major blow to the tactic of using CEQA to delay projects of any kind – not just housing – that conform to the standards of pre-existing general plans.

It could be a “judicial transformation of CEQA (that) won’t be rendered ineffectual by project-labor, community-benefit or other everything bagel conditions,” Elmendorf remarked on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Elmendorf likens the appellate court decision to the Washington Legislature’s sweeping overhaul of its environmental quality act last year, also meant to minimize delays in housing development. It exempts zoning-compliant housing from further environmental review.

If the decision has the effect Elmendorf anticipates, one wonders whether those who have for years invoked CEQA on specific projects, particularly environmentalists and labor unions, will accept a changed legal climate or try to overturn the ruling through the Legislature.

Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist.

​ Orange County Register 

Words can mean life or death for ballot measures, including a November one in Santa Ana

• February 23, 2024

A Verity Scan device at the Orange County Registrar of Voters (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Officials are notorious for sticking their thumbs on the scales as Election Day approaches. But how much is too much? It’s a question Santa Ana officials might do well to ponder.

We’re not talking Venezuelan manipulation of voting machines or fake ballots stuffed in suitcases or other fantastical flights of fancy here. We’re talking about the comparably mundane use of language, and how officials crafting ballot measures (and titles and summaries) can bless, or curse, an idea with words and words alone.

A rose is a …

Remember the Republican-backed attempt to repeal gas taxes in 2018?

Drivers hated the gas tax and registration fee hikes (which aimed to raise some $5 billion a year for much-needed infrastructure work), but officials loved them. Proposition 6 would have repealed them and, like all statewide ballot measures, it had to traverse officialdom before reaching the great unwashed masses at the ballot box. When the Attorney General’s office wrote the title and summary for the measure, it didn’t simply say “repeals recently enacted gas and diesel taxes and vehicle registration fees.” It said, “Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding by Repealing Revenues Dedicated for Those Purposes. Requires Any Measure to Enact Certain Vehicle Fuel Taxes and Vehicle Fees Be Submitted to and Approved by the Electorate.”

Huh? Prop. 6 failed.

And who can forget all those pension reform attempts?

Orange County Registrar of Voters staffer James Wight, right, reads names and numbers to Danyette Sayles, as they check the accuracy of scanned test ballots (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

As the cost of generous public worker retirements gobbled more and more of state and local budgets, reformers circulated some pretty logical plans to get future costs under control. These plans would not have impacted current public workers; only workers hired in the future. But you couldn’t tell that from the title and summary from the AG’s office.

“Reduces pension benefits for current and future public employees … including teachers, nurses, and peace officers ….”

TEACHERS, NURSES AND PEACE OFFICERS?! Reformers went ballistic, calling the language “provably false or grossly misleading” — but, well, here we are, sans pension reform.

Enter now the extremely interesting measure from the city of Santa Ana for the fall general election that raises all sorts of tremendous questions.

Who votes?

On Nov. 5, Santa Ana voters will decide if noncitizens will get to vote in city elections.

The measure says, “Shall the City of Santa Ana City Charter be amended to allow, by the November 2028 general municipal election, noncitizen City residents, including those who are taxpayers and parents, to vote in all City of Santa Ana municipal elections?”

Staff members of the Orange County Registrar of Voters scan test ballots on Feb. 9 as part of state-mandated logic and accuracy testing. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A conservative Orange County attorney threatens legal action over this — but not for the noncitizen voting part.

“‘Taxpayers and parents?’” said Laguna Niguel attorney James V. Lacy, one eyebrow raised.

Which is to say, just as no decent human being would claw pensions away from righteous teachers and nurses and peace officers, who’s going to deny righteous taxpayers and parents the right to weigh in on local governance?

Of course, Lacy points out, the measure would also allow non-taxpayers and non-parents — which is to say, just about exactly everyone of legal voting age — the right to vote on local governance. So the words do nothing except try to tip the scales in the measure’s favor.

“That language is jimmying with the ballot,” Lacy said. “It’s election interference.”

If “taxpayers and parents” isn’t dropped from the measure, Lacy — who served in the Reagan administration and has filed similar suits before — will ask an Orange County Superior Court judge to step in.

We asked the Santa Ana folks their thoughts. City spokesman Paul Eakins said the city attorney’s office will be providing an impartial analysis of the ballot measure at a later date, and referred us to the city clerk’s website for more election information at www.santa-ana.org/elections/.

No idle threat

Lacy has worked in this space before.

The Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline from the Marin Headlands above Sausalito are shown in 2015. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

A few years ago, voters in San Francisco amended the city’s charter to allow noncitizen parents and guardians of school-aged children to vote in school board elections. Lacy took the city to court, citing Article II, Section 2, of the California Constitution: “A United States Citizen 18 years of age and resident in this state may vote.”

The city violated the constitution by allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote, he argued. The court agreed.

But the city appealed, arguing that the state constitution doesn’t expressly say “only” U.S. citizens may vote and doesn’t prohibit expanding the electorate to noncitizens. You might recall that, once upon a time in America, women were denied the vote, as were Black Americans and “natives of China.”

It’s important that San Francisco is a “charter city” — operating under its own voter-approved set of rules and regulations — as opposed to a “general law city,” operating under the general laws of the state. The appeals court reversed the lower court and handed the city a victory.

City Hall (Courtesy City of Santa Ana)

“(W)e agree with the City that the plain language does not restrict the Legislature’s discretionary power to expand the electorate to noncitizens,” the appeals court said. “(I)t makes sense to confer on charter cities the authority to expand the electorate where, as here, the city’s voters determine that doing so would better serve local needs. Conversely, where a charter city’s electorate determines expanding the electorate would not serve its local needs, it need not do so.”

Down the road, Lacy fears Santa Ana’s measure would dilute the voting power of minority citizens, thus running afoul of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Santa Ana is 77% Latino, 12% Asian, 9% White and 1% Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The overwhelming majority of noncitizens are presumed to be Latino.

But that’s not the issue now. Santa Ana is a charter city, just like San Francisco. The state Supreme Court isn’t likely to have a very different take on the noncitizen voting question than the appeals court did.

It’s the language Lacy is concerned with at the moment. So consider this a public service announcement that might save Santa Ana “taxpayers and parents”  — and everyone else — what they might wind up spending in legal fees. Those words don’t seem germane to the question at hand, and might be too darn expensive.

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​ Orange County Register 

Plant, prune, prepare: 5 things to do in the garden this week

• February 23, 2024

Five things to do in the garden this week:  

1. Sample citrus fruit from now until they achieve the level of sweetness you desire. The longer citrus fruit stays on the tree, the sweeter it gets; ripening ceases once fruit is picked. Some like their citrus a little on the tart side and some demand it to be sugary sweet. Navel oranges should be just about at their peak sweetness now as are Satsuma tangerines. Tangleos and grapefruits, however, will need more time to ripen. Two practices will ensure longer shelf life once citrus is picked. First, make sure a small bit of stem remains on the fruit when picking or twisting it off. Second, immediately refrigerate your citrus fruit in a bag. Adopting these practices will result in your citrus fruit remaining fresh for a month or longer following harvest.

2. Get ready for gophers. Gophers have begun to mate and births will occur from March until June. Gophers, which belong to the rodent family, typically live for one to three years. Females generally give birth to one or two litters per year, with about five offspring per litter. Males take no part in gopher family life, and the young disperse as soon as they are weaned from their mother’s milk. Gophers are extremely territorial, which is good news if you have a gopher problem. You may see a dozen mounds in your backyard, but it is probably the work of a single animal, since one gopher will inhabit an area as large as 1,000 square feet. The many crisscrossing burrows made by the gopher form an elaborate underground network. In fact, the word gopher comes from the French gaufre, which means honeycomb. Lately, the Cinch and Gopherhawk traps seem to be getting the best reviews. 

3. One of the easiest herbs to grow is borage (Borago officinalis). Plant a few seeds and within a few years you will have hundreds of plants popping up each spring. Borage foliage and stems are covered with a mysterious silvery down and scads of star-shaped celestial blue flowers appear on plants that quickly grow up to three feet tall before dying in late spring or early summer. Dead plants are easily removed and tossed onto the compost heap. Meanwhile, seeds will have already been deposited all over the garden, waiting to sprout next year without any outside help. Too many borage seedlings in your yard? Not a problem. Uproot them when they are an inch tall and consume them like any other edible sprout. Alternatively, detach borage flowers – which have a cucumber taste – before they can set seed and toss them into your salad or use them to decorate your cakes.

4. Prune hibiscus now. This is a plant that flowers on current season’s growth so you do not need to be concerned about sacrificing flowers whose buds formed last fall, as is the case with hydrangeas and deciduous fruit trees, for example. Other plants you can prune now with a clear conscience would be those whose flowers — like those of hibiscus, roses, butterfly bushes (Buddleia spp.) and crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.) — form on the terminals of shoots that start growing now or in the weeks to come.

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5. Prune any plants damaged in our recent heavy rains. As temperatures warm and the danger of frost passes, you do not have to worry that new growth, stimulated by pruning, will be burnt in a cold snap. Be prepared for more weeds than usual, however, as the soaking rains will bring up seeds that would otherwise have remained dormant. A scuffle hoe is a handy tool to have around as it easily dispatches young weeds by cutting them off at ground level as soon as they emerge. A heavily mulched garden, of course, will also depress weed seed germination from the simple fact that the sunlight needed for seeds to sprout cannot penetrate the mulch.

​ Orange County Register