California ska-punk band Mad Caddies drop a new record this week, announce several local shows

• March 14, 2024

After entertaining the crowds at the reggae-driven Cali Vibes festival in Long Beach back in February, ska and punk rock veterans Mad Caddies are set to return to the area on tour in May with a whole lot of brand new songs to perform.

“I’m feeling really good about where we’re at. We just can’t stop smiling and it’s contagious and everyone sees it. Our whole mission statement is we came here to throw a dance party,” said Chuck Robertson, guitarist-vocalist and founding member of the Solvang-born band.

The six piece band, which formed in 1995, have several local shows scheduled in the coming months. They’re heading out on tour in support of the new album, “Arrows Room 117,” which comes out on Friday, March 15.

The tour will bring them to the Echoplex in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 2, then to the Holding Company in San Diego on Saturday, May 18. They’ll also spearhead the 1st Annual Caddielina Wine Mixer at House of Blues Anaheim on Sunday, May 19 alongside The Sidekicks, Chase Long Beach, La Pobreska, 8 Kalacas and more. Mad Caddies are playing a date on the Punk in Drublic Festival in San Pedro, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 6, but the daily schedules have yet to be released. The fest will serve as Los Angeles-based punk band NOFX’s final shows ever.

“We’re going to play a little bit of everything. We do our old-school songs, new songs off the new records. It’s a good time,” Robertson said of the tour.

In its nearly 30-year history, the band has released seven full-length albums, one live album, two EPs and sold more than 500,000 albums total.

“It’s surreal. You look back and think it’s been 30 years and it’s pretty neat to look back and think we’re still doing it. We’ve matured on an organic path. We started off real manic with the hard ska and punk, angry at the world teenage angst, the standard California punk rock vibe,” he said.

“But then we got more into different styles of music, bringing in reggae, Dixieland jazz and rock and some world music aspects. We never wanted to make the same record twice,” Robertson added.

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He describes the new album, which is the first since the band’s 2018 release “Punk Rocksteady,” as showcasing pain, love, loss and “the bright light of new beginnings,” with the recognizable Mad Caddies mix of reggae, rock, ska and this time, a little bit of country, too.

“It’s definitely the most personal for me,” he said. “The story of the album is kind of me and my travels through California to see my son up in Lake Tahoe who is about to turn nine.”

The title track was written in room 117 of the motel he stays at when he goes to see his son. But the it’s more about small town drama and gossip rather than his son.

“We come from a small town, Solvang, and I’m still living there. And people in small towns, they talk,” Robertson said.

He also pays homage to his girlfriend in the single “Green Eyes,” a reggae love song sparked by their travels. The catchy groovy cut features accordion by Brian Mann, who has been on records by Oingo Boingo, Kenny Loggins and David Lee Roth.

“What can I say, she’s beautiful and she has green eyes,” he said with a laugh. She was sitting next to him in the car during a phone interview.

The band explores the country music genre with the single “Baby,” which starts off with a very country rock vibe as horns kick in.

“I feel like there’s this old school, Elvis ’70s, vibe to it,” he said. “I listen to everything, country and reggae and rock and indie, folk, hip-hop. So I can’t tell you exactly where that song came from. It’s just kind of a honky tonk, we were just riffing in the studio and we were like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool, let’s do that.’”

The band’s other love song is to their home state of California titled “Palm Trees and Pines.”

“It’s the quintessential California song. We know what our state is and how beautiful it is, but other people in the world think California is just L.A. and San Francisco. But no, we have the palm trees and pines, we got the beautiful forest, the lakes, the rivers, the deserts, we have it all,” he said.

While they’re looking forward to their upcoming show dates, Robertson said the band is still riding high from its set at Cali Vibes, though they were a little worried before hitting the stage.

“It went really well and I was really surprised because we went on at one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday and I was thinking no one was going to be there,” he recalled. “But it was a really good crowd and everyone was really super cool and my girlfriend and I had a great time watching the other bands.”

Mad Caddies

With: Bad Cop/Bad Cop, La Pobreska and Shock Therapy

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2

Where: Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles

Tickets: $35.25 at LiveNation.com

Also: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 at Holding Company, 5046 Newport Ave., San Diego. $30 at the door; $25 in advance at theholdingcompanyob.com. The 1st Annual Caddielina Wine Mixer at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 19 at House of Blues Anaheim, 400 Disney Way, Anaheim, with The Sidekicks, Chase Long Beach, La Pobreska, 8 Kalacas, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Urethane and Taken Days. $13 at LiveNation.com.

Punk in Drublic Festival at Berth 46, 3011 Miner Street, San Pedro on Friday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 6 with MXPX, Bouncing Souls, Buzzcocks and more. $125 single-day general admission (Friday or Saturday); $249 single-day VIP admission (Friday or Saturday); $225 general admission (Sunday); $325 VIP admission (Sunday). $350 weekend (three-day) general admission; $750 weekend VIP; $999 Bro Package VIP passes (Friday and Saturday only). All passes are available at punkindrublicfest.com/losangeles.

​ Orange County Register 

California lawmakers must act now to reverse the state’s insurance crisis

• March 14, 2024

Have you been dropped by your homeowner’s insurance company? You are not alone, California is in the grip of a home insurance crisis, with insurers abandoning the state’s market at an alarming rate. Daily headlines announce the withdrawal of major insurance companies from California, leaving homeowners scrambling for coverage. USAA, Allstate, and State Farm have either stopped writing new homeowner’s policies altogether or they have drastically limited coverage for policies they offer. But why are these insurance giants fleeing the nation’s largest insurance market?

The answer lies in the state’s extreme losses, particularly stemming from the severe wildfires that ravaged California in recent years. According to the 2021 California Property & Casualty Market Share Report, insurance companies saw their losses skyrocket, exceeding $15 billion in 2017 and $13 billion in 2018. These losses far exceed previous years’ losses, highlighting the severity of the situation.

The most recent example is the Camp Fire of 2018. Triggered due to negligence on the part of PG&E, the fire ignited by a spark from an electric transmission line, and engulfed parched land for more than two weeks, destroying nearly 19,000 buildings, causing $16.5 billion in damages, and claiming the lives of at least 85 innocent people. This tragic incident stands as the costliest, most catastrophic, and deadliest fire in California’s history. And it underscores the dire consequences when there is inadequate maintenance and oversight within the utility sector.

Why were these losses so staggering, especially considering that wildfires have long been a part of California’s landscape? The crux of the issue lies in the state’s inadequate forest management practices. For decades, California’s leaders have neglected essential measures such as tree pruning, vegetation clearance, and controlled burns, leaving forests vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires, particularly during periods of prolonged drought.

While state leaders have sought to deflect blame onto factors like poorly maintained electrical equipment and adverse weather conditions, the underlying issue remains clear: California’s failure to properly manage its forests set the stage for the unprecedented scale and intensity of recent wildfires.

In a free market, insurers facing mounting losses and increased risk would naturally respond by raising premiums. This, in turn, would prompt homeowners to demand better forest management practices to mitigate the risk of wildfires. However, California’s leaders have opted for more interventionist measures, exacerbating the crisis.

Under California’s regulatory framework, insurance rate hikes exceeding 7% require approval from the state’s elected Insurance Commissioner. Additionally, Proposition 103, passed in 1988, imposes stringent requirements on insurers, hindering their ability to adjust rates to reflect the escalating wildfire risk.

As a result, insurers find themselves grappling with insufficient rate increases to cover losses and future risks, leading to desperate measures such as policy cancellations and stringent property inspections to identify non-compliance issues.

Enter the “FAIR Plan,” California’s state-managed insurer of last resort for homeowners unable to secure coverage from private providers. Despite its ironic name, the FAIR Plan offers minimal coverage for wildfire-related losses at exorbitant premiums, leaving homeowners with few options.

The surge in FAIR Plan applications, reaching 270,000 in 2022 alone, has overwhelmed the system, causing severe delays and leaving homeowners without coverage as they await processing. Meanwhile, mortgage companies impose costly forced insurance plans, further exacerbating the financial burden on homeowners.

Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner, is proposing reforms allowing insurers to implement rate increases faster. He says these changes are needed to stabilize the market and ensure long-term sustainability. While homeowners understand the need to address the mounting risks posed by wildfires and other natural disasters, naturally they are worried that allowing insurers to quickly raise rates is a burden they cannot afford.

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So, what can California do to address this crisis? The most effective solution lies in mitigating fire damage through proper forest management. Additionally, preferential tax treatment for homeowners affected by government failures could provide much-needed relief. Failure to take decisive action exposes Californians to unsustainable costs and the risk of being uninsured. As California continues to face severe wildfires, urgent measures are needed to protect homeowners and ensure the state’s long-term resilience.

Lawmakers should approach insurance reform thoughtfully and prioritize solutions that protect the interests of homeowners while effectively addressing the underlying challenges facing our state. Any reforms need to strike a balance between stabilizing the insurance market and ensuring affordability and accessibility for Californians. It is time for California’s leaders to seize the opportunity to address the root causes of the insurance crisis and safeguard the state’s future.

Melissa Melendez previously served as a California State Senator and Assemblymember. She is now Executive Director of the California Chapter of the America First Policy Institute.

​ Orange County Register 

5 ways to make your vegetable garden a pollinator destination

• March 14, 2024

As the weather warms, anticipation grows in people eager to grow vegetable gardens. Gardening daydreams become a canvas of plump tomatoes, colorful dangling peppers, and sprawling squash vines covered in sunny blooms.

The secret to making these bountiful dreams come true is simple: Create a welcoming space for pollinators in and around your vegetable garden. Once that neon welcome sign is turned on, your garden will burst with the activity of these winged workers. Their presence will sweeten the success of your garden by boosting pollination, yield, resistance to pests, and local biodiversity.

While you might notice insects like flies, beetles and butterflies casually moving from flower to flower, bees are the ones doing most of the pollination work.

The image of honeybees clasping at squash flowers might suggest a simple exchange in pollination services. The reality is that pollination can be complex and nuanced, depending on the flower to be pollinated. Honeybees, introduced to North America in the Colonial era, tend to steal the spotlight in pollinator discussions. Their generalist and nondiscriminatory pollination behavior benefits farmers and a wide range of crops, making them highly desirable.

But they are not, as many people assume, the quick fix for our pollination problems — including loss of habitat and species diversity, and overuse of chemicals — that have cut the population of pollinators and, thus, pollination itself. The assumption about honeybees is how the vital work of native bees is overlooked.

A goldfinch — a pollinator — among sunflowers.

The life cycles and behaviors of native bees are in sync with the blooming periods and pollination requirements of native plants — a perfect, more efficient pairing. When populations are healthy, native bees are active in weather that honeybees avoid, and they tend to be more adaptable to local climate challenges. Bumblebees, for example, have a unique pollination behavior valued by crops like blueberries, peppers and tomatoes. The flowers of these plants have pollen grains that do not loosen or transfer easily, resulting in less-than-ideal pollination by most insects. Bumblebees, though, can release stubborn pollen using buzz pollination, vibrating their wings while gripping the flower.

About 20% of our native bees are specialists, using only the pollen from one species or plant genus. The squash bee, for instance, relies solely on pollen from cucurbits (squash, pumpkins, cucumbers) to feed its offspring. Although the spiny texture, low nutritional value and chemical defenses of squash pollen repel many generalists, squash bees flourish on it.

Supporting these specialized pollinator relationships leads to efficient, well-rounded pollination in flower beds and vegetable gardens. Here are a few easy tips to turn on that neon welcome sign and invite biodiversity into your garden.

1.  Plant pollinator-attracting plants in and around your vegetable plot.

Include perennials such as:

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Aster (Symphyotrichum species)
Beebalm (Monarda species)
Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Goldenrod (Solidago species)
Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium species)
Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum species)

… and annuals such as:

Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
Borage (Borago officinalis)
Dill (Anethum graveolens)
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Coneflower is a perennial great for attracting pollinators, such as this monarch.

2. Plant so that you can offer a continuous food source — and continuing pollinator activity: Choose plants that flower at different times through the growing season.

3. Delay garden cleanup: Leave dead stems, sticks and limbs that are valued nesting sites for native bees.

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4. Instead of regular mowing, consider using strategic string trimming to maintain neat garden edges and allow central areas to stay wild. This adds flexibility and structure to a space without compromising habitat.

5. Implement careful pesticide practices. Avoid broad-spectrum and systemic pesticides; apply in the morning, when fewer pollinators are active; and educate yourself about your garden’s common pests and diseases. This will minimize the chemical impact on the environment and allow pests and natural predators to thrive.

Meredith Simmons is the greenhouse manager for the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

​ Orange County Register 

For this Palmdale father, riding a handcycle in LA Marathon is ‘wildest dream’

• March 14, 2024

Participating in the Los Angeles Marathon has been on Walter Escamilla’s bucket list for many years.

But as a paraplegic who lost his ability to walk after a car accident about 16 years ago, Escamilla envisioned that as “the wildest dream.”

That dream finally became a reality after Escamilla, 49, found out that he could participate in the marathon with his handcycle.

“This is going to be the highlight of my life,” he said laughing. “I’m so powerful, you have no idea.”

Escamilla is one of the thousands of participants who will hit the streets on Sunday, March 17, to compete in the 39th annual Los Angeles Marathon.

The 26.2-mile race will kick in at Dodger Stadium continuing through iconic landmarks of Hollywood, Century City, and Beverly Hills with the finish line on Santa Monica Boulevard at Avenue of the Stars.

While a wheelchair marathon is generally faster than running, it’s considered one of the most challenging sports for participants due to safety issues for disabled participants.

The L.A. Marathon was the first to introduce wheelchair racing in 1986 with an official professional wheelchair division, and the next marathon to introduce it was the Boston Marathon. The world record for a marathon wheelchair race is 1:17:47 set in 2021 in Japan by Marcel Hug from Switzerland. His record was more than two minutes faster than the record set at 1:20:14 by his countryman Heinz Frei in 1999.

For Escamilla, who will compete in the handcycle division, rolling his bike alongside other runners and cyclists has been a major milestone.

“I would never thought even in any craziest dream that I would be part of the L.A. Marathon,” he said.

Escamilla, who lives in Palmdale, spent two years coming to terms with his injury — and with the fact that he couldn’t walk.

“I used to cry and see dreams that I was walking,” he said. “I would wake and see my wheelchair and I hated my wheelchair. I would go back to sleep, trying to get back to that dream where I was walking.”

His life drastically changed after discovering the Triumph Foundation and its sports clinic that offers wheelchair hockey, basketball, rugby, and racquetball. He became a volunteer for the group and later began working for them.

He was always passionate about riding a bike and it was “a game changer” when he found out that he was able to ride a bike even as a paraplegic.

“It sounds crazy but I love my wheelchair because it’s a tool that gives me freedom,” he said.

As a father of twin 18-year-old daughters, who were only two years old when he had his car accident, he eventually learned to do everything with them: taking them to Universal Studios, parks, and stores and even showing them how to drive.

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“I accomplished my American Dream to pay mortgage and taxes,” he said, laughing. “Now I have a new thrust for life. Anything I can do, I will do it to challenge myself and most importantly to show others who got injured that in this life we can triumph over any disability.”

On Sunday, March 17 he plans to wake up at 3 a.m. and head to Dodger Stadium with his brother Earnie who is going to help transport his handcycle.

He has been preparing since December, riding his handcycle twice a week and taking in a lot of protein and water.

“I always tell our patients who just got hurt: ‘Exercise is medicine,’” he said. “I’m doing this to show my fellow injured people that we can do anything. I’m not disabled, I just do things differently.”

​ Orange County Register 

After all the rain, gardeners can expect to pull plenty of weeds

• March 14, 2024

Five things to do in the garden this week:

1. With the heavy rainfall we experienced this winter, weeds are now a major concern. Interestingly enough, in a poll taken regarding the popularity of gardening tasks, weeding came in number 4 (behind planting, watering, and mowing the lawn). There is an obsessive element to the gardener’s personality and perhaps this explains the attractiveness of weeding. Besides, repetitive tasks are a boon to mental health. In any case, weeding presents a wonderful opportunity to get to know your plants up close, which is also an advantage of watering by hand. If you are in the market for a weeding tool, know that a Hori-Hori knife is highly worthy of your consideration. This implement has a wide, seven-inch-long blade that is suitable not only for weeding but for cutting through roots as well as digging planting holes for bulbs and for transplants of seedlings, annuals, and herbs.   

2. Each foray into the garden is an opportunity to check on the water status of our plants. In this regard, do not be fooled by the soil surface which may appear dry even though there is plenty of moisture in the root zone. As long as you do not cultivate the ground or break the crust on the soil surface, water that is in the soil below may be retained for an extended period of time. A report on San Fernando Valley agriculture in 1917 described 2-3,000 acres of vineyards between Burbank and Sunland that were “usually grown without irrigation. . . table, raisin, and wine varieties are grown, but the wine grapes predominate.” In this same area, apricots and peaches were grown “with and without irrigation.” And the Indigenous peoples of the Southwest would grow corn without any water except what came down from the heavens. It is wise to synchronize automatic irrigation time with garden visits since we can then regularly check for any breaks or leaks in the watering system as we inspect our plants.

3. Proper harvesting of vegetables, fruits, and herbs is essential to getting the best crops, in both quality and quantity, from these plants. Harvest vegetables as soon as they are ripe since their texture and flavor can deteriorate when harvest is delayed. You will also get more crop by harvesting on a continual basis, whether peas, beans, tomatoes, or peppers are involved. Once orchard fruit is ripe (with the exception of citrus, that becomes sweeter with time), it should also be removed immediately. Leaving fruit on the tree encourages poaching by birds and squirrels and disease and insect pests are more likely to become a problem. Herbs also demand continuous harvesting in order to prevent them from flowering which curbs new growth of their culinary and/or medicinal foliage.

4. When thinking about what to plant for the spring, container gardening is an option to consider. Certain rampant growers such as mint might make more sense to plant in a container than in the garden. Plants sensitive to temperature extremes can be moved, according to the weather, giving them less sun in scorching heat and, if cold-sensitive, placing them up against a sun-absorbing wall (or even in the garage) when frost is forecast. With the exception of succulents and other slow-growing plants, whose soil may be left alone for years, it is a good idea to annually change the soil in your containers, especially where you are growing fruit trees, vegetables, bulb plants, annuals, or leafy flowering perennials.

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5. Pineapple guava (Feijoa/Acca sellowiana) is a highly recommended species for growing in a container. It can be cultivated as a shrub or trained into a tree, either as a multi-trunked or as a standard (single-trunked) specimen. Some plant lovers consider it to be the perfect small tree as it grows to 15 feet tall and wide and has ornamental appeal throughout the year. The flowers, which should be blooming soon, have snowy white petals that are sugary sweet and that your kids will love to munch. If you have a self-fertile variety, you will eventually see blue-green fruit shaped like little mice with a perfumed aroma when cut. Fruit sometimes form on Southern California-grown trees, but seldom reach maturity in our hot summer climate. Should you be lucky enough to see fruit, do not pick but wait for it to reach its maximum ripeness, allowing it to fall from the tree, having placed a tarp underneath to prevent bruising. 

Foliage is green above, silver underneath and, being in the myrtle family, its exfoliating bark is always a pleasure to behold. Pineapple guava lends itself to clipping and shaping. Grow it as a hedge or train it up a trellis or as an espalier. If anyone has a source for a feijoa variety that regularly produces a tasty crop in Southern California, please advise.

Please send your questions and comments to [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

President Biden’s corporate tax proposal is economically foolish, populist nonsense

• March 14, 2024

In the latest volley of policy proposals that seem more rooted in populist rhetoric than economic knowledge, President Joe Biden’s budget plan to hike the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28% strikes me as particularly misguided. This move, ostensibly aimed at ensuring a “fair share” of contributions from corporate America, is a glaring testament to a simplistic and all-too-common type of economic thinking that already hamstrings our nation’s competitiveness, stifles innovation, and ultimately penalizes the average American worker and consumer.

Beyond the president’s class warfare rhetoric, the lure of putting his hands on more revenue is one of the factors behind the proposal. Biden likes to pretend he is some sort of deficit cutter, but his administration is the mother of all big spenders. He’s seeking $7.3 trillion for next year without acknowledging the insolvency of Social Security coming our way or addressing what happens when Congress makes the Republican tax cut permanent in 2025 for people earning less than $400,000 a year.

Unfortunately, no fiscally irresponsible budget is complete without soothing individual taxpayers by promising to tax corporations. Never mind that the burden of corporate income tax hikes isn’t shouldered by corporations. Yes, corporations do write the checks to the Internal Revenue Service, but the economic weight will be partially or fully shifted to others, such as workers through lower wages, consumers through higher prices, or shareholders through lower returns on investment. That means that many taxpayers making less than that $400k will be shouldering the cost of the corporate tax hike.

It is worth expanding on the fact that much of a corporate tax increase will be shouldered specifically by workers. A recent Tax Foundation article, for instance, explained that “a study of corporate taxes in Germany found that workers bear about half of the tax burden in the form of lower wages, with low-skilled, young, and female employees disproportionately harmed.”

Biden’s planned tax hike would raise revenue for sure. Kyle Pomerleau at the American Enterprise Institute told me that it would raise roughly $1 trillion over a decade. However, it will do it in the most damaging way possible.

Indeed, it is well-established by the economic literature that increasing corporate taxes is the most economically destructive method due to its impact on incentives to invest. Investments that were previously feasible at the lowest rate of capital are now out of reach. Firms forgo machinery, factories and other equipment, reducing their capital stock. That in turn reduces productivity, output and overtime wages.

The good news is that the reverse is also true. That’s what the Republicans did in 2017 when they cut the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% while broadening the tax base. Chris Edwards at the Cato Institute recently noted that the move increased investments and wages as one would hope — and it also managed to boost federal corporate tax collections from $297 billion in 2017 to a projected $569 billion in 2024.

While this spike was attributed to temporary factors — the revenue is anticipated to decrease to $494 billion in 2025 — it also reduced tax avoidance from firms who repatriated much of the revenue they used to keep abroad. Instead of avoiding higher tax rates, they invested more in America and boosted wages along the way.

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In addition, for all the concerns about fairness expressed by the administration to justify its tax hike, the corporate tax is quite unfair. Profits are already subject to taxation at the individual level when distributed as dividends or realized as capital gains. Increasing the corporate tax rate will exacerbate the issue of double taxation, distorting investment decisions and reducing economic efficiency, not to mention encouraging aggressive planning for more tax avoidance.

Last, the administration’s plan ignores one of its usual priorities: the fact that many U.S. companies must compete on the international stage. Raising the corporate income tax at home makes them less competitive abroad. According to the Cato Institute’s Adam Michel, if Biden is successful in raising the corporate income tax to 28%, the U.S. would have the second-highest such rate among the market-oriented democracies that make up the OECD. America would instantly become less attractive for multinational corporations and mobile capital.

In an era where economic literacy should guide policymaking, reverting to such tax hikes is a step backward — a misstep we can ill afford amid the delicate dance of post-pandemic recovery and an increasingly competitive global economy.

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

​ Orange County Register 

President Bush visits ‘Portraits of Courage’ exhibit at Nixon Library with Army veterans

• March 14, 2024

Alex Glenn-Camden, an Army infantryman injured in Afghanistan, stood next to President George Bush looking at a portrait the former president had painted of him.

Though the Temecula resident has met “43” before at other openings of “Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors,” Glenn-Camden never before had the opportunity to view his portrait while standing one-on-one with Bush as he did Wednesday, March 13, at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda.

“In the beginning, you’re just kind of speechless,” he said of seeing his own image painted by a president. “It hits you that a president sat there for some time and painted you. It’s almost a little emotional.

“To know he saw something in myself and then to sit there and take his time and paint is extremely humbling.”

Glenn-Camden, who served from 2010 until he was shot in the neck in 2012 while deployed to Afghanistan, along with former Sgt. Daniel Casara, 49, of Ramona, who served in the Army from 1994 to 2008, enjoyed a private tour of the visiting exhibit with the former president Wednesday evening before it opens to the public on Thursday, March 14. Both men are Purple Heart Medal recipients; Casara’s legs were crushed in 2005 in Baghdad when an antitank mine flipped the armored personnel carrier he was riding in, also killing fellow soldiers.

The exhibit includes 66 full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by Bush of 98 members of the U.S. military who served the nation since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and whom he has come to know personally since leaving office. The exhibit will be at the Nixon Library through May thanks to a loan from the Ambassador and Mrs. George L. Argyros Collection of Presidential Art at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

“We are thrilled to welcome the display for its first showing on the West Coast,” said Jim Byron, president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, adding that the exhibit aligns with the library’s recent emphasis on helping students and the public understand the elements of civic engagement. “The exhibit fits perfectly into this framework.”

In addition to the private tour, the Army veterans took part in an invite-only dinner that also included the president and 300 library patrons. Nixon Foundation Chairman and former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien interviewed Bush onstage during the dinner.

For Glenn-Camden and Casara, seeing Bush again was an honor, they said, especially because it was in their home state. Both have met the president before, first at one of his Warrior Open golf events, and Casara also participated in a Warrior bike ride the Bush Foundation put on.

Both men said they appreciate the former president’s down-to-earth personality and agreed he had a great sense of humor.

“I’m proud to be part of this event,” Casara said, adding that he is also extremely appreciative that there continues to be such interest in the portraits and in those who serve the country. The exhibit was first displayed in 2017 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus in Dallas.

“It’s great seeing people out there that show their respect for the men and women who put on the uniform,” he said. He also credited Bush for his deep respect for veterans and his continued support of veterans programs through his foundation. Bush painted the veterans’ portraits from photos taken of them at events he held.

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Casara said Bush has a tremendous memory and when the former president approached Casara as he waiting near his portrait, Bush immediately recognized Casara and called him by a familiar nickname: “Danny C, The Preacher.” (Bush even references the nickname in the description he penned to go with the portrait, saying about a 2014 address Casara gave at a dinner event, “He had the entire audience captivated with his story and its lessons. He was so good, I nicknamed him The Preacher.”)

“He then asked about my wife and my golf game,” Casara said of their brief reunion Wednesday evening. “Then we had a laugh and took some pictures.”

Glenn-Camdem, who grew up in Long Beach, said he had been lucky enough to be invited to a dinner table with Bush several years ago following a golf tournament. There, the 34-year-old said he was first introduced to Bush’s plan for painting veterans.

“His idea was, ‘Why don’t I paint veterans who made an impact on me or the community?’” Glenn-Camden recalled Bush saying. “He asked us what we thought, and we said we thought it was great.”

Discussing his project in a video accompanying the portraits exhibit, Bush says part of his inspiration came from a former art teacher, Sedrick Huckaby, who knew he had painted portraits of world leaders. Bush said the teacher suggested to him, “Why don’t you paint people no one knows.”

“It pretty quickly dawned on me painting wounded warriors would be an interesting project,” Bush said. “Interesting because I wanted to honor them and talk about their sacrifice to the country, and I wanted to remind the American people of what a tremendous national asset they were in the military and will be in the future of the country.”

Related links

OC pauses to remember the lives lost on 9/11 and the heroes at work
Vietnam War POWs gather, remember at Nixon Library reunion
Nixon Library adds monument to Vietnam War veterans on 50th anniversary
Leaders come to life at Presidents Day celebration

​ Orange County Register 

Taco Bell’s new Cantina Chicken Menu will arrive March 21

• March 14, 2024

Taco Bell will introduce its new Cantina Chicken Menu on March 21, but loyalty members can start trying it out a week early.

The menu was part of Taco Bell’s big reveal on Feb. 9, when the Irvine-based fast food giant previewed its plans for 2024 at a fan event in Las Vegas.

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It is intended to boost lunch business for a chain known for its late-night clientele, and to that end has recruited Jason Sudeikis of “Ted Lasso” fame for the advertising campaign, according to a news release.

There are five items on the menu: a Cantina Chicken Soft Taco, about $2.99; Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco, $2.99; Cantina Chicken Burrito, $5.99; Cantina Chicken Quesadilla, $6.49; and a Cantina Chicken Bowl, $7.99.

Taco Bell Rewards Members can preview the crispy taco and the quesadilla beginning Thursday, March 14, and the soft taco, burrito and chicken bowl beginning Monday, March 18.

Taco Bell launched the first of its 2024 innovations, a Cheesy Chicken Crispanada, for a limited time beginning Feb. 15 and tested three others seasoned with Tajín late last month in Irvine.

Information: tacobell.com

​ Orange County Register