In coal country, drag queens are out, proud and loud

• July 4, 2023

By Carolyn Kaster and Calvin Woodward | Associated Press

SHAMOKIN, Pa. — Deep in Pennsylvania coal country, the Daniels drag family is up to some sort of exuberance almost every weekend.

They’re hosting sold-out bingo fundraisers at the Nescopeck Township Volunteer Fire Co.’s social hall, packed with people of all ages howling with laughter and singing along. Or they’re lighting up local blue-collar bars and restaurants with Mimosas & Heels Drag Brunches for bridal parties, members of the military, families and friends.

Or they’re reading in gardens to children dressed in their Sunday best — Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” is a favorite book for performers and kids alike.

In a string of towns running along a coal seam, the sparkle of small-town drag queens and kings colors a way of life rooted in soot, family and a conservative understanding of the world.

Here two very old traditions mingle — and mostly happily, it seems, in contrast to the fierce political winds ripping at drag performances and the broader rights of LGBTQ+ people in red states from Utah and Texas to Tennessee and Florida.

One tradition is the view of family as mom, dad and kids, plain and simple.

The other, back to before Shakespearian times, is drag, a loud, proud and seismically flamboyant artistic expression of gender fluidity. Not plain, not simple, but also bedrock, rising above ground only in culturally adventurous cities.

Yet the Daniels drag family is firmly woven in the fabric of the larger community in this area, where voters went solidly for Donald Trump, a Republican, in the last election. Their trouble is more apt to come from politicians who are increasingly passing laws restricting what they can do.

So far, no bans have surfaced that curb the Daniels family’s performances. A bill was introduced in the state Senate aimed at banning drag shows in public places, but it remains stalled in a committee with little prospect of advancing.

Alexus Daniels, the matriarch, was the child of a coal miner and a textile worker who was “born with a female spirit.” She works at the local hospital as an MRI aide tech.

Jacob Kelley, who performs as drag queen Trixy Valentine, is an LGBTQ+ activist and educator with a master’s in human sexuality.

Harpy Daniels, Trixy’s twin, is a U.S. Navy sailor who’s had three deployments on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Soon that seaman, Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Kelley, who just reenlisted, moves from a base in Norfolk, Virginia, to one in Spain, with plans to pack a wig “and maybe one or two cute outfits but nothing over the top” for Harpy-style shore leave.

Apart from the twins, the drag performers in this circle are family by choice, not genes. Theirs is an oasis of belonging.

“I never had a person like me growing up,” Trixy said, “and now I get to be that for everyone else.

“There was a curse being a queer person in a rural town — the curse is that we’ll move … because there’s no one like us here, there’s no one that can understand us.

“And drag now can be a place or a thing to show people like you that you don’t have to go to the cities. It’s here in your backyard.”

The Associated Press followed the Daniels family for more than a year. Among them:

Alexus Daniels, drag queen

Daniels’ first memory is of her great-grandmother’s jewelry box. With Cyndi Lauper and the Pointer Sisters blasting, she would wrap herself in knitted blankets to lip-sync and dance for her family. “I had no idea that it was drag or gay,” she says. “I was just having a day!”

Alexus hit high school and upped her Halloween game. She soon entered her first drag performance in the small Pennsylvania coal town of Weishample.

“I still was not out at this point,” Alexus says. “I wasn’t even sure if I was gay. I knew I was attracted to boys and loved all things feminine! I kept this side of me to myself and my best friends growing up, who really didn’t see anything strange about it.”

Trixy Valentine, aka Jacob Kelley, drag queen

In their teens, Joshua was the first to turn to drag. Jacob started about six months later, in a white Marilyn Monroe dress at an amateur pageant in 2014.

Trixy’s drag style is eclectic, but whether silly or fierce, there’s glitter: “I just want to shine when the light hits me.”

“I came out as non-binary a few years ago because I started learning, like, what do I love so much about drag?” Kelley says. “It’s that femininity, that so-simple touch.”

“I’m not a man,” Kelley says. “I never will see myself as a man. And I don’t see myself as a woman, either. But I see myself as beyond that.”

In March, the Daniels drag family hosted bingo at the Nescopeck fire hall, packed with more than 300 people in a fund-raiser for a nearby theater.

A small group of protesters could be watched on social media from the bingo hall, holding signs and praying the rosary across from the theater. Trixy addressed the bingo crowd.

“There’s hundreds of us in this room and only nine of them on that street,” Trixy said. “So all I have to say is I don’t care what you believe in. But do not force it down my throat and tell me I shouldn’t be here because you think I’m wrong.

“The Lord gave birth to me, too.”

Trixy was in a long blue wig and Morgan Wells catsuit with an overskirt, a raised fist in the colors of the Pride flag on the chest.

“Alright, let’s call some numbers!” Trixy said. “Let’s play some bingo!” The crowd cheered.

Harpy Daniels, aka Joshua Kelley, U.S. Navy petty officer first class, drag queen

Until 2011, the armed forces applied the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which accepted LGBTQ+ people only if they stayed mum about their sexual orientation.

But after Kelley enlisted in 2016, he encountered the opposite — call it “ask and tell.” A commander asked what pronoun they prefer. Joshua, relieved by the acceptance implied by the question, told him any pronoun will do.

Now, the sailor is a social media sensation who was named a “digital ambassador” by the Navy, doing outreach to the LGBTQ+ community and others who have been marginalized: “I’m very proud to wear this uniform.”

Kitty DeVil, aka Emily Poliniak, drag queen

Kitty, a trans woman, describes her drag style as “punk and a lot of storytelling.” Her inspiration: Adore Delano, a 2014 finalist on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

“She was what I wanted to be — this badass punker chick looking gorgeous without sacrificing her style,” Kitty says.

Kitty says her performances are high-energy fun but also “a lighthouse.”

“Because even in our LGBTQ community, there are outcasts and people who don’t feel like they’re like anybody else,” Kitty says. “So I wanted to make a beacon for all those people who feel weird and feel different and can’t really find their place in society.”

Xander Valentine, aka Gwen Bobbie, drag king

More than a decade after she was transfixed by seeing her first drag show, Xander was invited by Trixy to join the drag family.

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Xander has an energetic, family-friendly side as well as a sexy, sultry side. Confusing people about gender is intentional, a barrier-breaker.

“I try to create a consistent theme of masculinity in my performances,” Xander says. “Although I paint my face, wear wigs and adorn myself with rhinestones, I usually perform to songs sung by men and tailor my costumes more toward suits and ties.

“My personal goal as a king is to have the audience question my off-stage gender identity.”

Why? It’s to convey the message, Xander says, that “it’s OK to not immediately know how a person identifies or who they are attracted to, and still be kind to them.

“It’s OK to accept someone as different, even if you don’t fully understand it.”

Woodward reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Lynn Berry contributed to this report from Washington.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers accomplish free-agency goal of keeping core intact

• July 4, 2023

SACRAMENTO — Before free agency officially started Friday afternoon, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka laid out the team’s approach to building the roster this offseason.

“We’ve been pretty clear since our last game with the success of making it to the Western Conference finals, we want to try our hardest to keep this core of guys together,” Pelinka said last Tuesday, “and also improve around the edges and on the margins to not only get back to where we were last year but hopefully take the next step and get into the NBA Finals.”

Within the first 24 hours after the negotiating window opened Friday afternoon, the Lakers delivered on the first half of Pelinka’s goal, making deals to bring back most of the core from last year’s playoff run.

The Lakers’ first move involving one of their own restricted free agents was agreeing to terms with forward Rui Hachimura on a three-year contract worth $51 million on Friday evening.

From there, the Lakers took care of their starting backcourt: free agent guard Austin Reaves agreed to return on a four-year, $56 million Early Bird maximum contract while D’Angelo Russell agreed to terms on a two-year, $37 million contract with the Lakers on Saturday.

Free agents can’t sign their new contracts until Wednesday at 9:01 p.m. PT after the free agency moratorium period ends.

But when those deals become official, the Lakers will return six (Hachimura, Reaves, Russell, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt) of the top seven players from last season’s playoff rotation.

Veteran guard Dennis Schröder is the lone player of those aforementioned seven who won’t return. He reportedly agreed to a two-year, $26 million deal with the Toronto Raptors as a replacement for Fred VanVleet, who is joining the Houston Rockets (three years, $130 million), ending Schröder’s second stint with the Lakers

The Lakers quickly locked up the player who is expected to be their backup point guard in Gabe Vincent, who agreed to a three-year, $33 million deal to leave the Miami Heat and join the Lakers on Friday.

Lonnie Walker IV (Brooklyn Nets), Malik Beasley (Milwaukee Bucks) and Troy Brown (Minnesota Timberwolves) are among the Lakers’ free agents who have reportedly agreed to terms on contracts with other teams.

Mo Bamba, Wenyen Gabriel and Tristan Thompson are unrestricted free agents who finished last season with the Lakers but have not agreed to deals.

Forward Taurean Prince (one year, $4.52 million), wing Cam Reddish (two years, $4.62 million with a player option for the second season) and center Jaxson Hayes (two years, $4.62 million with a player option for the second season) will join Vincent as the Lakers’ newcomers once the contracts become official.

The impact of those moves around the edges and how much of an upgrade the newcomers prove to be – if they are upgrades – will be determined once the season starts.

But in Prince and Vincent, the Lakers have added complementary two-way skillsets, while Reddish and Hayes bring youth and athleticism.

Ultimately, the Lakers’ moves were about giving the core an opportunity to build on the foundation they set for themselves when they went 18-9 to close out the regular season post-trade deadline before the playoff run.

They accomplished that.

“We believe in the proof of concept of this group,” Pelinka said. “We saw defensively what we were able to do to finish the season out and I think defense and rebounding wins championships. That’s the core of [Coach] Darvin Ham’s] system and our identity. We want to lean into that.

“We say it all the time, but we have one singular goal, it’s to add the 18th banner,” Pelinka said. “That’s our focus.”

Whether bringing the core back will be enough to accomplish that goal won’t be answered until the spring.

COACHING STAFF ADDITION

The Lakers are hiring DeMarre Carroll as an assistant on Ham’s coaching staff, a source confirmed to the Southern California News Group.

Carroll spent last season as an assistant on Mike Budenholzer’s coaching staff with Milwaukee.

Ham was an assistant coach on Budenholzer’s Atlanta Hawks staff when Carroll played for them from 2013-15.

Carroll is the Lakers’ first addition to the coaching staff since Miles Simon, Jon Pastorek and Dru Anthrop left to join former Lakers coach Frank Vogel’s staff with the Phoenix Suns.

Carroll, 36, finished his 11-year playing career with the Houston Rockets in 2019-20.

TWO-WAY DEALS

The Lakers officially announced they have signed Colin Castleton and D’Moi Hodge to two-way contracts ahead of Monday afternoon’s summer league opener against the Miami Heat.

Both Castleton and Hodge are part of the Lakers’ summer league team that will play in Sacramento and Las Vegas.

Two-way contracts, introduced during the 2017-18 season, are intended for development. Players go back and forth between the franchise’s NBA team and its G League affiliate and cannot be on the NBA team’s active roster for more than 50 regular-season games.

Teams now have spots for three two-way contract players under the new collective bargaining agreement after previously having two.

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​ Orange County Register 

Rep. Michelle Steel wants schools to disclose use of personal rating in admissions

• July 4, 2023

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor in deciding whether or not to admit someone into college, Rep. Michelle Steel reintroduced legislation to require colleges and universities to publicize their use of personality traits in making admissions decisions.

Some universities, she said, may still use personality tests that serve as a proxy for racial discrimination.

“While the Supreme Court put an end to universities’ discriminatory quota system this week, many schools may still use arbitrary personality assessments that have been used to disadvantage Asian American students in the admissions process,” Steel said.

In 2014, Harvard University was accused of discriminating against academically strong Asian American applicants by its use of a “personal rating,” which includes factors like being a “good person” or “likeability.” Court documents showed that Harvard conducted an internal investigation in 2013, which uncovered bias against Asian American applicants.

According to student records filed by Students For Fair Admission, the group representing the Asian American students in the case, Asian American applications scored lower than others on such traits.

While California banned race-conscious admissions in public schools in 1996 after voters approved Proposition 209, California’s private colleges and universities were exempt from the ban.

Many private institutions, including Chapman University, USC, Pepperdine University and the California Institute of Technology, still include personal insight questions — although some are optional — in their applications to measure potential students’ performance and whether they are a “good fit.”

Steel’s bill would require schools that accept federal funds to publicize their use of a “personal rating” test on their website and application materials, including a statement “informing applicants of the use of personality traits in making admission determinations, the rationale for such use of personality traits, a description of the process under which personality traits are considered and the standards and criteria used for rating personality traits.”

“The Princeton Review has told Asian American students to avoid including their photos, talking about their culture and never answer questions about their ethnic background,” Steel said.

Her bill, she said, “requires schools to be transparent and tell us exactly how the process works in how they score these students, and that’s the bottom line.”

Her first version of the bill, introduced in 2022, was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor but was not voted on.

Steel, R-Seal Beach, said she is reintroducing the legislation to “shine a light on this process and ensure that all students and their families are fully aware of which schools are using these tests, the metrics used and the rational for these personality traits.”

The Supreme Court stood divided in its decision on affirmative action last week, with the conservative majority voting in favor of striking down the race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. But Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina, wrote in a dissent that the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”

An immigrant from Korea, Steel applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, saying it “marks a new chapter in the fight for equality in education.”

And Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim, another Orange County lawmaker who hails from Korea, said the decision is a “huge victory for students of all backgrounds.”

“We should not hold students back and send a dangerous message that one’s race and background matters more than one’s merits and character,” Kim said.

Spurred by the decision, a civil rights group backed by the NAACP and Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights challenging legacy admissions at Harvard.

The complaint draws on Harvard data that came to light amid the affirmative action case. Records revealed that 70% of Harvard’s donor-related and legacy applicants are White and being a legacy student makes an applicant roughly six times more likely to be admitted.

It also alleges that Harvard’s legacy preference has nothing to do with merit and takes away slots from qualified students of color; it asks the Education Department to declare the practice illegal and force Harvard to abandon it as long as the university receives federal funding.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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​ Orange County Register 

Rivian surges after quarterly production beats expectations

• July 3, 2023

By Ed Ludlow | Bloomberg

Rivian Automotive built more battery-electric vehicles last quarter than Wall Street had anticipated as the company works to ramp up production and overcome a string of supply-chain issues. Its shares soared by double-digits in early trading Monday.

The company also reaffirmed its previous guidance that it’s on track to make 50,000 EVs this year, according to a statement. It made just shy of 25,000 vehicles in 2022. Leaders of the Irvine-based manufacturer in March told employees internally that output of 62,000 this year was possible, Bloomberg has reported.

Its shares rose 15% to $19.14 of 9:46 a.m. in New York, coming after larger rival Tesla also posted a beat for second-quarter deliveries. Rivian’s stock had declined 9.6% this year through Friday’s close after plunging more than 80% in 2022.

SEE MORE: Rivian retail center coming to Laguna Beach

Rivian produced 13,992 vehicles and delivered 12,640 to customers in the three months ended June 30. Analysts had expected the company to make about 12,562, according to an average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The quarterly total — which includes figures for its two passenger vehicles and a commercial plug-in van for investor and customer Amazon.com — was up from the 9,395 it built in the first quarter.

Rivian is fighting to maintain its status as a leading contender among a pack of EV startups to challenge market leader Tesla. Rivian grabbed the spotlight with a blockbuster market debut in 2021, but has struggled since with supply-chain headaches, lowered expectations and a severe drop in the company’s market value.

The company has been able to ease a supply-chain bottleneck by developing a two-motor powertrain in-house known as Enduro. The technology supplements a four-motor design made by Robert Bosch GmbH that has faced lingering backlogs. That has helped it boost output of its R1S electric SUV, which accounts for about 70% of its pre-orders.

Rivian said it will announce second-quarter financial results on Aug. 8.

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​ Orange County Register 

Is the housing market about to crash? Here’s what experts say

• July 3, 2023

Jeff Ostrowski | (TNS) Bankrate

After a record-breaking run that saw mortgage rates plunge to all-time lows and home prices soar to new highs, the U.S. housing market finally started slowing in late 2022. Mortgage companies engaged in mass layoffs, real estate economists lamented a “housing recession” and home prices seemed poised for a correction.

But a strange thing happened on the way to the housing crash: Home values started rising again. In fact, housing prices have increased for three months in a row, according to the latest Case-Shiller home price index.

“The U.S. housing market continued to strengthen in April 2023,” Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a June 27 statement about the latest Case-Shiller reading. “Home prices peaked in June 2022, declined until January 2023, and then began to recover.”

Yes, home values were down compared to April 2022 — but only by a mere 0.2 percent. In other words, the housing boom might be over, but this pause in the real estate market isn’t shaping up as a crash.

Crunching the numbers in a different way, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that median sale prices of existing homes had declined year-over-year for four consecutive months through May, with February’s drop marking the first decline in nearly 11 years.

This breather comes after a real estate party that raged on longer than anyone expected. NAR reported that median prices in the spring of 2022 topped $400,000 for the first time ever. Even after the recent retreat, prices are up by more than $100,000 since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020, according to NAR data.

Now, bidding wars have returned, and inventories remain frustratingly tight. “You’re not going to see house prices decline,” says Rick Arvielo, head of mortgage firm New American Funding. “There’s just not enough inventory.”

Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, agrees about the supply-and-demand imbalance. Her latest forecast says home prices will keep rising into 2024 — welcome news for sellers but not so great for first-time buyers struggling to become homeowners. “We’re not in that space where things are suddenly going to be more affordable,” Olsen says.

Still, a rapid rise in mortgage rates and a sharp slowdown in home sales has some bracing for the worst. In late May, Elon Musk — the multibillionaire founder of Tesla and owner of Twitter — tweeted this prediction: “Commercial real estate is melting down fast. Home values next.”

After the June 14 Fed meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters he was keeping a close eye on the housing market. “Housing is very interest-sensitive, and it’s one of the first places that’s either helped by low rates or held back by higher rates,” Powell said in the press conference. “We’re watching that situation carefully.”

Regardless, housing economists and analysts agree that any market correction is likely to be a modest one. No one expects price drops on the scale of the declines experienced during the Great Recession. Rob Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, sums up the consensus among housing experts: “We’re thinking this is going to be a moderate downturn,” he says.

Is the housing market going to crash?

The last time the U.S. housing market looked so frothy was back in 2005 to 2007. Then home values crashed, with disastrous consequences. When the real estate bubble burst, the global economy plunged into the deepest downturn since the Great Depression. Now that the housing boom is threatened by soaring mortgage rates and a potential recession, buyers and homeowners are asking a familiar question: Is the housing market about to crash?

Housing economists agree that prices could fall further, but the decline won’t be as severe as the one homeowners experienced during the Great Recession. One obvious difference between now and then is that homeowners’ personal balance sheets are much stronger today than they were 15 years ago. The typical homeowner with a mortgage has stellar credit, a ton of home equity and a fixed-rate mortgage locked in at a rate well below 5 percent — in fact, according to a new Redfin study, 82.4 percent of all current homeowners are locked in below the 5 percent mark.

What’s more, builders remember the Great Recession all too well, and they’ve been cautious about their pace of construction. The result is an ongoing shortage of homes for sale. “We simply don’t have enough inventory,” Yun says. “Will some markets see a price decline? Yes,” he says. “[But] with the supply not being there, the repeat of a 30 percent price decline is highly, highly unlikely.”

Existing home prices

Economists have long predicted that the housing market would eventually cool as home values become a victim of their own success. After decreasing year-over-year in February for the first time in more than a decade, the median sale price of a single-family home showed a 3.1 percent yearly decline in May, per NAR.

Overall, though, home prices have risen far more quickly than incomes. That affordability squeeze is exacerbated by the fact that mortgage rates doubled since August 2021, before starting to retreat a bit.

Experts say prices could fall further

While the housing market is indeed cooling, this slowdown doesn’t look like most real estate downturns. Home sales have plunged, and inventories of homes for sale have fallen sharply, too. Homeowners who locked in 3 percent mortgage rates a couple years ago are declining to sell — and who can blame them, with current rates once again pushing 7 percent? — so the supply of homes for sale is even tighter. As a result, this correction will be nothing like the utter collapse of property prices during the Great Recession, when some housing markets experienced a 50 percent cratering of values.

Yun says high-priced regions such as California are most vulnerable to a downturn in prices. However, he says, “Even in markets with lower prices, primarily the expensive West region, multiple-offer situations have returned in the spring buying season following the calmer winter market.” Overall, he expects national prices to remain flat.

5 reasons the housing market is not about to crash

Housing economists point to five compelling reasons that no crash is imminent.

— Inventories are still very low: The National Association of Realtors says there was a 3-month supply of homes for sale in May. Back in early 2022, that figure was a tiny 1.7-month supply. This ongoing lack of inventory explains why many buyers still have little choice but to bid up prices. And it also indicates that the supply-and-demand equation simply won’t allow a price crash in the near future.

— Builders didn’t build quickly enough to meet demand: Homebuilders pulled way back after the last crash, and they never fully ramped up to pre-2007 levels. Now, there’s no way for them to buy land and win regulatory approvals quickly enough to quench demand. While they are building as much as they can, a repeat of the overbuilding of 15 years ago looks unlikely. “The fundamental reason for the run-up in price is heightened demand and a lack of supply,” says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. “As builders bring more available homes to market, more homeowners decide to sell and prospective buyers get priced out of the market, supply and demand can come back into balance. It won’t happen overnight.”

— Demographic trends are creating new buyers: There’s strong demand for homes on many fronts. Many Americans who already owned homes decided during the pandemic that they needed bigger places, especially with the rise of working from home. Millennials are a huge group and in their prime buying years. And Hispanics are a young, growing demographic keen on homeownership.

— Lending standards remain strict: In 2007, “liar loans,” in which borrowers didn’t need to document their income, were common. Lenders offered mortgages to just about anyone, regardless of credit history or down payment size. Today, lenders impose tough standards on borrowers — and those who are getting a mortgage overwhelmingly have excellent credit. The median credit score for mortgage borrowers in the the first quarter of 2023 was a high 765, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says. “If lending standards loosen and we go back to the wild, wild west days of 2004-2006, then that is a whole different animal,” says McBride. “If we start to see prices being bid up by the artificial buying power of loose lending standards, that’s when we worry about a crash.”

— Foreclosure activity is muted: In the years after the housing crash, millions of foreclosures flooded the housing market, depressing prices. That’s not the case now. Most homeowners have a comfortable equity cushion in their homes. Lenders weren’t filing default notices during the height of the pandemic, pushing foreclosures to record lows in 2020.

All of that adds up to a consensus: Yes, home prices are still pushing the bounds of affordability. But no, this boom shouldn’t end in bust.

FAQs

— Is a housing market crash likely? No, most industry experts do not think the market will crash. Housing economists point to five main reasons that the market will not crash anytime soon: low inventory, lack of new-construction housing, large amounts of new buyers, strict lending standards and a drop in foreclosures.

— Will housing prices drop in 2023? After rising sharply for years, home prices decreased year-over-year in February 2023 for the first time in more than a decade — and continued to drop in March and April. The decrease is relatively modest, though: While the heated market has cooled down, it’s not likely to experience a sharp drop. Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst, says a plateauing of prices is more likely than a steep fall. Matthew Pointon, senior property economist at Capital Economics, also expects a slowdown rather than a freefall, predicting a 5 percent drop by mid-2023.

— How much house can I afford? It depends on many factors, including how much money you earn versus how much you pay out in debts and expenses each month — known as a debt-to-income ratio. Many financial advisors recommend the 28/36 percent rule of home affordability, which states that you should spend no more than 28 percent of your gross monthly income on housing expenses, and no more than 36 percent on total debt. Bankrate’s home affordability calculator can help you crunch the numbers.

— What is a good credit score to buy a house? Different minimum credit scores are required by lenders for different types of mortgages. However, a score of at least 620 is typically required for a conventional loan — and if it’s as high as 740, all the better. Successful borrowers today tend to have outstanding credit, with a median score of 765.

___

©2023 Bankrate online. Visit Bankrate online at bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

When will Disneyland resume Oogie Boogie Bash ticket sales after massive tech failure?

• July 3, 2023

Disneyland diehards frustrated with repeated tech failures during special event launches will find out later this week when Oogie Boogie Bash tickets will go on sale again after a massive crash left some fans dancing with glee and others fuming with anger.

The massive technical failure that sent Disneyland’s IT team scrambling to find a resolution as quickly as possible last week has forced the Anaheim theme park to pause Oogie Boogie Bash ticket sales for a week until the problems can be fixed.

SEE ALSO: California theme parks fire up Fourth of July fireworks celebrations

“We apologize for the technical issues which have impacted general ticket sales for Oogie Boogie Bash,” according to the Disneyland website. “New sales are paused while we work to address these issues.”

Disneyland will provide an update on Oogie Boogie Bash ticket sales on Thursday, July 6 at 9 a.m. — which may include the date and time when new ticket sales will resume.

The sales queue has closed for today. An update will be shared on July 6.

Disneyland: “We apologize for the technical issues which have impacted general ticket sales for Oogie Boogie Bash. New sales are paused while we work to address these issues.” pic.twitter.com/XRAkSjw6ig

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) June 29, 2023

“We commit to providing advance notice prior to activating new sales and strive to make the process as smooth as possible,” according to the Disneyland website. “We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

Tickets for the after-hours, separate admission event on 25 select nights went on sale to Magic Keyholders on June 27 and to the general public on June 29. The technical troubles with the Oogie Boogie Bash website started shortly after the general public tickets went on sale.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland delivers the Marvel musical you didn’t know you wanted or needed

Reddit user Tora76 was annoyed that some customers were able to buy Oogie Boogie Bash tickets while sales were paused.

“That just seems unfair on top of the frustration of the site crashing,” Tora76 wrote on Reddit. “If sales are paused, no one should be able to purchase anything.”

Disney’s Oogie Boogie Bash website says completed ticket purchases will be honored.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland closing 3 popular rides during peak of summer

Reddit user NotThatDeep believes there’s no reason to cancel any Oogie Boogie Bash tickets purchased after Disneyland paused the sales queue.

“There’s a lot of sour people saying those sales should be canceled, but I’m sure they’d all be singing a different tune if they had been able to purchase tickets,” NotThatDeep wrote on Reddit. “It’s not like anyone cheated. The website allowed it. Disney is doing the right thing by honoring those sales.”

Disneyland has experienced server meltdowns during past special event launches that overwhelmed ticket sale websites.

“Disney knows that they can basically insult their customer base, not prepare adequately, spend low amounts of money on IT infrastructure and people will still spend money,” wrote Reddit user TargetQuestionPerson.

SEE ALSO: Disney California Adventure to begin rolling opening of San Fransokyo Square in July

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Oogie Boogie Bash will run once again on select nights in September and October at Disney California Adventure. The 2023 dates include Sept. 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28 and Oct. 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29 and 31.

This year’s edition of Oogie Boogie Bash will include familiar nighttime entertainment like the Frightfully Fun Parade, Villains Grove and “Mickey’s Trick and Treat” show along with trick-or-treat trails. Character costumes, food and merchandise typically have a seasonal flair.

Prices for the 2023 event range from $134 to $189. The 5-hour after-party starts at 6 p.m. with mix-in beginning three hours earlier.

​ Orange County Register 

Ask the Pediatrician: Top safety tips for preventing heat, sun-related illnesses in children this summer

• July 3, 2023

As summer beckons and children head outdoors to play, it’s important to protect them from too much sun and heat as well as air pollution, especially on days when the air quality is poor.

Families are encouraged to check the local daily Air Quality Index to identify when air pollution, wildfires and heat raise the risks of asthma and other health concerns.

It’s great to see children enjoying nature and reaping the benefits of outdoor activities. But as we encounter more intense weather events, including severe heat, families can use some layers of protection that families to help their kids stay healthy.

Sunburn and UV rays are one concern. Sun and heat can also worsen local air pollution by contributing to ozone and smog.

Here are some tips to ensure a safe and fun summer for everyone:

— Babies under 6 months of age should be kept out of direct sunlight. Move your baby to the shade under a tree, umbrella or stroller canopy. Dress babies in lightweight clothing that covers the arms and legs, and use brimmed hats that shade the neck to prevent sunburn.

— For older children, the first (and best) line of defense against harmful ultraviolet radiation exposure is covering up. Stay in the shade whenever possible, and limit sun exposure during the peak intensity hours: between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The sun’s damaging UV rays can bounce back from sand, water, snow or concrete, so be particularly careful of these areas.

— Select clothes made of tightly woven fabrics. Cotton clothing is both cool and protective. Try to find a wide-brimmed hat that can shade the cheeks, chin, ears and back of the neck. Sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection are also a good idea for protecting your child’s eyes.

— Apply sunscreen with an SPF 15 or greater to areas of your child’s skin that aren’t covered by clothing. Put sunscreen on 15 to 30 minutes before going outdoors, as it needs time to absorb into the skin. Reapply every two hours after swimming, sweating or toweling off. The additional benefits of using sunscreen with SPF 50+ are limited. It’s OK to use sunscreen on young babies on small parts of their skin not protected by clothing or hats, but remember that babies touch their mouths a lot, and it’s best to prevent them from ingesting sunscreen in this way.

— When choosing a sunscreen, look for a water-resistant product and for the words “broad-spectrum” on the label — it means the sunscreen will protect against both ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet A (UVA) rays. Try to find products that contain the mineral ingredients zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. If possible, avoid the ingredient oxybenzone, a sunscreen chemical that may have hormonal properties.

Climate change is contributing to more intense summer heat. Extreme heat and air pollution affect everyone, but especially children. Children breathe faster and breathe more air compared to their body weight than adults. They breathe lower to the ground where some pollution settles. Children and adolescents are at increased risk of heat-related illness when they play, exercise or work outside, especially during summer months. Young children, especially, depend upon their parents and caregivers to protect them from extreme heat.

High levels of air pollution can cause asthma flare-ups, breathing trouble and other illnesses in children. For decades, some communities have lived with higher levels of pollution and heat. The effects of former laws and policies that discriminated against Black communities and communities of color are still felt by many children. Redlining is one example of a policy from the 1930s that resulted in more polluting and heat-trapping industry and infrastructure in predominantly Black neighborhoods. In the summer, children in communities that were redlined are exposed to more pollution, heat-trapping asphalt and higher temperatures. Many families may not have access to resources to cope with these intensified summer challenges.

To protect children against summer pollution, pollen and heat illnesses:

— Check your local Air Quality Index. Adjust your child’s outdoor activities when needed.

— If your child has asthma, ask your pediatrician how air pollution can be added to your child’s asthma action plan.

— Find out about your school’s guidelines for heat and outdoor play and make sure the school follows these guidelines.

— On hot days, make sure your child dresses appropriately, takes breaks, drinks plenty of water and takes time to get used to the temperature.

— If your child takes medication, ask your pediatrician if it increases your child’s risk for heat illness.

— Use MERV 13 rating or higher filters in your home’s central heating and cooling system, if possible.

— Use public transportation or choose walking and biking when it is safe to do so, consider a zero-emissions vehicle when you purchase your next car, or ask your school to switch to electric school buses.

— Advocate in your community for access to green space for all children and plant trees or participate in tree-planting service events to reduce urban heat effect and clean the air.

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ABOUT THE WRITERS

Rebecca Philipsborn, MD, MPA, FAAP, is a pediatrician at Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and serves on the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change and assistant editor of the upcoming fifth edition of Pediatric Environmental Health, the AAP handbook for pediatricians.

Sophie J. Balk, MD, FAAP, a general pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in Bronx, New York, is a member of the AAP Executive Committee of the Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change. Dr. Balk is associate editor of the fourth edition and upcoming fifth edition of Pediatric Environmental Health.

©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Musk, Zuckerberg add a combined $155 billion to their wealth in 2023

• July 3, 2023

By Annie Massa and Jack Witzig | Bloomberg

The world’s 500 richest people added $852 billion to their fortunes in the first half of 2023.

Each member of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index made an average of $14 million per day over the past six months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It was the best half-year for billionaires since the back half of 2020, when the economy rebounded from a Covid-induced slump.

SEE MORE: Elon Musk and a breakdown of his global empire

The gains coincided with a broad stock market rally, as investors brushed off the effects of central bank interest rate hikes, the ongoing war in Ukraine and a crisis in regional banks. The S&P 500 rose 16% and the Nasdaq 100 surged 39% for its best-ever first half as investor mania over artificial intelligence boosted tech stocks.

While Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg flirt with scheduling a cage match, Tesla’s chief executive officer came out on top in dollar terms. Musk, the world’s richest person, added $96.6 billion to his net worth this year through June 30, while Meta Platforms CEO Zuckerberg gained $58.9 billion.

Gautam Adani’s net worth sank the most in the six-month period, losing $60.2 billion. Adani, chairman of Adani Group, also posted the biggest one-day loss of any billionaire, shedding about $20.8 billion on Jan. 27, after short-seller Hindenburg Research accused his conglomerate of accounting fraud and stock manipulation — a claim Adani denies.

RELATED: 31 billionaires have more money than US Treasury

Hindenburg, founded by Nate Anderson, also knocked down the net worth of another billionaire: Carl Icahn. His Icahn Enterprises LP had its steepest one-day drop after Hindenburg disclosed it was shorting the shares, saying the stock was significantly overvalued relative to its holdings. Icahn’s net worth fell $13.4 billion, or 57% — the largest percentage drop of any member of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in the period.

​ Orange County Register