Trump wants to lure foreign companies by offering them access to federal land

• September 24, 2024

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Donald Trump is expected on Tuesday to pledge not only to stop U.S. businesses from offshoring jobs, but also to take other countries’ jobs and factories.

Among the ideas he is planning to pitch is luring foreign companies to the U.S. by offering them access to federal land. He teased the plan earlier this month when he proposed a cut to the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the U.S.

His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, wants to raise it to 28%. The corporate rate had been 35% when he became president in 2017, and he later signed a bill lowering it.

Trump has pressed Harris on the economy and proposed using tariffs on imports and other measures to boost American industry, even as economists warn U.S. consumers would bear the costs of tariffs and other Trump proposals like staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.

Members of the crowd dance as they wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to begin speaking during a campaign rally at Ed Fry Arena in Indiana, Pa., Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

Up until now, Trump has mostly framed his economic approach with measures to punish companies that take their businesses offshore. But on Tuesday, he is set to reveal incentives for foreign firms to leave other countries and migrate to the U.S. The former president wants to personally recruit foreign companies and to send members of administration to do the same.

A senior Trump adviser shared advance excerpts of Trump’s speech, which the former president could still change.

It is unclear whether foreign companies would be attracted by some of these incentives he says he will adopt if elected to the White House. The former president also had a spotty record in the White House of attracting foreign investment. For example, Trump promised a $10 billion investment by Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn in Wisconsin, creating potentially 13,000 new jobs, that the company never delivered.

It’s also not clear how possible it is for a president to offer these perks to foreign corporations. The Bureau of Land Management has restrictions on foreign entities looking to lease lands. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry Monday night about whether companies from China would be excluded, given his longtime accusations that China is hurting American business.

The Republican presidential nominee is set to discuss his plan in Savannah, Georgia, which has one of the busiest ports in the country for cargo shipped in containers.

Related Articles

It is Trump’s first visit in this battleground state stop since a feud between the former president and the Republican Gov. Brian Kemp came to an end last month with the popular Georgia governor finally endorsing Trump.

Some Republicans have said they fear Georgia has gotten more politically competitive in the two months since Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential bid after President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection efforts. Harris gave a speech in Atlanta last Friday, calling Trump a threat to women’s freedoms and warning voters he would continue to limit access to abortion if elected president.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance is holding a rally later this week in Georgia as well as paying a visit to Macon.

Before Trump’s remarks, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told the crowd that the former president is a “successful businessman that gave us the best four years of our life.” Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones assailed Harris for calling Trump a threat to democracy, saying that she secured the Democratic nomination with delegate votes, and not through a primary process.

Jones served as a fake elector and signed on to the “unofficial electorate certificate” falsely claiming that Trump won the 2020 election he actually lost to Biden. A special prosecutor, however, declined to move forward with criminal charges against Jones in the matter.

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Indiana, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Australian gelato brand to open two OC locations this fall

• September 24, 2024

Another day, another ice cream purveyor has the scoop on fun flavors to cool down Orange County.

On the heels of Wanderlust Creamery and Filo Dessert Co. — two ice cream shops that recently opened in Costa Mesa and Old Towne Orange, respectively — Australia-based Gelatissimo will launch two of its gelato stores in Orange County as part of its foray into Southern California.

Gelatissimo will open its first O.C. shop on Oct. 19 on Balboa Island, followed by a second location in Irvine’s University Center on Nov. 12.

“Gelatissimo has been eyeing the Orange County area as a dream destination for years,” said CEO Braeden Lord in a written release. “It was a natural choice thanks to its beach culture, warm climate, family demographic, youthful vibrance and domestic and international tourism.”

SEE ALSO: Filo Dessert Co. brings Middle Eastern ice cream and knafeh to Old Towne Orange

Husband-wife team Rey and Sarah Maninang (Sarah’s family owned U.K.-based ice cream outfit Thayers) will own and operate the two O.C.-based franchises.

Orange County residents Rey and Sarah Maninang, pictured here in front of their Balboa Island shop, will own and operate both OC Gelatissimo locations. (Photo courtesy of Gelatissimo)

“There was a lot of synergy: my wife’s family owned the number-one ice cream brand in the UK for years, so she’s an expert in the field of frozen desserts and we were looking for a formula-based business with a proven track record of success, so Gelatissimo fits the bill,” said Rey Maninang in the same release.

Gelato flavors at Gelatissimo include mango sorbet, chunky New York cheesecake, wicked double choc brownie, decadent cookie dough (with hunks of cookie dough and caramel-fudge swirls), choc-honeycomb, a green apple sorbet and more. The gelatos, which come in vibrant hues like blue and magenta, also make decent foodie fodder on social media; more than 51,000 photos are tagged #gelatissimo on Instagram.

Related Articles

According to the company, the gelatos are made fresh in-store daily.

Gelatissimo, founded by brothers Domenico and Marco Lopresti, opened its first location in 2002 in Sydney, Australia. Since then, the company has grown to more than 65 locations globally. In addition to Houston, Hawaii and the two upcoming Orange County locations, an Arkansas Gelatissimo will open by year’s end.

The gelato company recently swept first-, second- and third-place categories at the World Dairy Championships (i.e., the frozen dessert Olympics) with its chocolate, boysenberry and hazelnut gelatos, correspondingly.

Find them: 304 Marine Ave, Newport Beach; 4237 Campus Dr, Irvine

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County girls athlete of the week: Westley Matavao, Mater Dei

• September 24, 2024

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

The Orange County girls athlete of the week:

Name: Westley Matavao

School: Mater Dei

Sport: Volleyball

Year: Sophomore

Noteworthy: The 6-foot outside hitter earned MVP at the Durango Fall Classic after recording 12 kills and 13 digs in a 25-18, 24-26, 28-26 victory against Marymount in the finals in Las Vegas. Matavao collected a season-high 24 kills in a five-set win against Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas in a nonleague match prior to the tournament.

Please send nominees for girls athlete of the week to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @ocvarsityguy on X and Instagram

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Review: ‘Waitress’ serves up a heaping helping of top-notch theater in La Mirada

• September 24, 2024

“Sugar, butter, flour.”

At  La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts now, this soothingly murmured mantra might be a dietician’s nightmare, but it keeps a troubled pie-baker extraordinaire sane and sure helps turn an audience giddy.

“Waitress,” a hit Broadway musical in 2016, is well revived here at a regional theater level of engagement. In fact, the engaging production and its spot-on cast wouldn’t be out of place in midtown Manhattan.

The surety of this staging stems from the production’s director, Abbey O’Brien, who was part of the original show’s creative staff as an assistant choreographer.

The musical’s cross-country transfer from its spring mounting at Maine’s Ogunquit Playhouse is a fine one, as O’Brien propels a well-paced, fluid swirl of scenes buoying the comedy with its darker thematic underpinning.

Swirling along, thanks to a six-member band neatly slotted away on a back corner of the stage, the musical’s baked-in strength is songwriter Sara Bareilles’ beguiling score.

Impactful tunes, ranging from catchy, upbeat pop and jazz rhythms that propel ensemble scenes, to heartfelt, introspective ballads digging deeper into individual character’s emotional tugs and pulls, are an ideal tutorial for Musical-Making 101.

The central character is Jenna (impeccably inhabited by Desi Oakley). Jenna waitresses to make ends meet but she exists to create wonderful pies with fanciful names reflecting her moods and situations of the moment.

Jenna learned her baking and naming skills from her mother in a happy refuge — the kitchen — of a larger, unhappier space — marriage to an abusive husband and father.

Like mother, like daughter has extended beyond baking, though, with adult Jenna now in the menacing grip of an intolerable husband and newly finding herself pregnant.

Her early plot trajectory is mentally signposted by Jenna’s creation of “My Husband Is a Jerk Chicken Pot Pie,”  “Pregnant Miserable Loser Self-Pitying Pie” and “I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong And Earl Will Kill Me Pie.”

The self-knowing scrutiny and laconic humor in these titles reflects Jenna’s states of being. Oakley, reprising the role from originating it for the U.S. tour and starring in London, has excellent comedic timing with an almost Zen-like assuredness at handling the fun and the not.

Equally important, as a singer with a fine voice, she is an acting vocalist who reveals the dimensionality of the inner life of a woman leading an unremarkable life by virtually reporting her inner emotions in the process of singing about them.

This trait is on display during Bareilles’ cathartic and beautiful warhorse confessional number “She Used to Be Mine.”

The diner workspace provides Jenna with two sidekick waitresses, a persnickety employer and, overall, a flavorful, if immediately identifiable, array of comic personas.

There is non-stop wisecracking, amusing subplots — mostly stemming from romantic foibles that play out amusingly if predictably — and an upbeat, cloistered environment for duets, trios and cast numbers.

There are notable performances to relish.

Dominique Kent is an engaging presence as Becky, another waitress with her own set of complaints and issues. These are articulated by Kent with well-timed knowing pauses and a fair dollop of verbal sass.

The show’s villain could be just a one-note heel, but as Jenna’s unappealing husband Earl, actor Brian Krinsky, deftly pokes and prods within to show the neuroses driving the martial psychosis. Our understanding doesn’t make us like the creep, but Krinsky’s lanky physicality is not just imposing, but warily self-obsessed.

Related links

This festival aims to break the art of mime out of the glass box
How a Yorba Linda teenager became Peter Pan in a national touring show
South Coast Repertory announces hiring of new managing director
For ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ musical, these married actors took their kid and cats on tour
Review: ‘The Little Mermaid’ soars above the deep in La Mirada

Late in the first act is the comic showstopper “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me.” This is sung by the socially awkward character Ogie. Extremely energized by talented comic actor Jared Gertner, it’s safe to say this guy is no humble pie for bringing the house down in a number designed and choreographed to do exactly that.

As pie shop owner Joe, Cleavant Derricks brings a Tony award — from the long ago “Dreamgirls” — to his querulous rendering of may be the most consequential figure in the play to ultimately have Jenna’s back.

Usually, it’s a waitress who gets a tip, but in this case it’s for readers: This production is worth your while.

‘Waitress’

Rating: 3 ½  stars (of a possible 4)

Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada.

When: Through Oct. 13. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $12.10-$93.50

Information: 714-994-6310; lamiradatheatre.com

​ Orange County Register 

Union Station’s next stop is a free salsa dance party

• September 24, 2024

Union Station will be the main stop for fans of salsa music with an evening of live music and dance lessons all for free during “Metro Art Presents: Salsa Night at Union Station,” which happens from 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at the station’s Ticket Concourse.

The night at the historic station will be headlined by La Verdad, an ensemble led by award-winning singer-songwriter Gabriel Gonzalez. The group will perform a mix of traditional and original music spanning from salsa to cha-cha to boogaloo to cumbia to Latin soul and more. Gonzalez is a multi-talented artist whose career spans film, music and theater. He has toured with artists such as Bruno Mars, Juan Gabriel, Los Van Van, and Anderson .Paak. Also on the bill is DJ Tosstones Aponte, a Grammy-nominated musician and producer who blends genres like salsa, hip-hop, afrobeats and jazz in his music.

But what if you can’t dance?

No worries Union Station has that covered too because the night will start with free salsa lessons for dancers of all levels. And get there early too because the first 40 visitors who show their TAP card to the Metro Art info table will receive a free copy of the book “Los Angeles Through the Eyes of Artists.”

Metro Art Presents: Salsa Night at Union Station

When: 7-10 p.m. Sept. 28

Where: Los Angeles Union Station,  800 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles

Cost: Free

Information: unionstationla.com

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

State housing lawsuit against Huntington Beach put on pause

• September 24, 2024

A San Diego Superior Court judge put a pause on the state’s lawsuit against Huntington Beach, in which it accused the city of violating housing laws by not planning for more units to get built.

Judge Katherine Bacal on Thursday, Sept. 19, issued a stay on the case following several appeals in both state and federal court related to the battle over housing requirements.

The pause will delay any enforcement action against the city for not adopting a compliant housing element, a policy document outlining where new housing can be built. A compliant housing element would see Huntington Beach allowing at least 13,368 housing units to be built this decade. However, private developers would have to want to build in the city to see those homes become a reality.

The pause also stops the clock for the year the city will have to get a new housing element in place, according to City Attorney Michael Gates.

Gates said there are no looming penalties or land-use restrictions for the city. He called it a “black eye” to the attorney general’s office, which had sought an order from the judge to require compliance within months.

“The state has gotten nothing out of this case,” Gates said.

The state filed the lawsuit in March 2023. Bacal ruled against Huntington Beach in the case in May, declaring that it had violated state law when officials refused to plan for more housing in the city. Bacal then ruled in July that the city would have a year to update its housing plans.

The court has canceled upcoming hearings for the case, with a status conference now set for March.

Huntington Beach voters this November will also decide if residents should have a stronger role in approving new housing plans. Measure U, if approved, would require voter approval each time to carry out zoning changes associated with a new housing element when there are “significant and unavoidable” environmental impacts.

Gov Gavin Newsom this month called out Huntington Beach as not doing enough when he signed several laws aimed at boosting housing production in the state and increasing penalties for cities that refuse.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Harris owns a gun? Trump wants to cap credit card rates? Party lines blur in campaign’s last stretch

• September 24, 2024

By STEVE PEOPLES

NEW YORK (AP) — One presidential candidate is talking up gun ownership and promising tough border security measures. The other vows to cap credit card interest rates and force insurance companies to cover in vitro fertilization.

Which one is the Democrat and the Republican?

The lines that have long defined each party’s policy priorities are blurring as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump seek to expand their coalition in the final weeks of a fiercely competitive election. The contest may well hinge on how many disaffected suburban Republicans vote for Harris and how much of the Democrats’ traditional base — African Americans, Latinos, young people and labor union members — migrates to Trump.

That’s prompting both candidates to take stances that would have once been anathema to their bases, scrambling longtime assumptions about what each party stands for.

“There’s a whole host of issues that draw people to support President Trump, and quite frankly, these are issues that used to be core pillar issues of the Democratic Party,” Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who has emerged as a top Trump ally, said in an interview.

Barbara Comstock, who co-chaired Nikki Haley’s GOP presidential campaign earlier this year, is now backing Harris. A former Republican congresswoman from Virginia, she marveled at feeling more aligned with Democrats this year, pointing to Harris’ call for an expanded child care tax credit, support for a tough bipartisan immigration bill and a foreign policy stance that Comstock said was in stark contrast to Trump’s admiration for leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“As a Republican, I feel like, hey, the Democrats are on my side now,” Comstock said in an interview.

Trump has long bucked the GOP’s traditional values

Of course, Trump has broken from the GOP’s traditional conservative values on issues like trade and foreign policy for much of the past decade. But he has gone further this fall, testing the loyalty of social and small-government conservatives with an agenda that downplays his opposition to abortion and calls for significant government intervention in health care and the economy.

Trump last week said he wanted the federal government to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, a move that quickly irked fiscal conservatives. He said last month he supports a federal law that would force insurance companies to pay for IVF, frustrating some social conservatives who believe the embryos used in the process should be protected. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted against the issue.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the Israeli American Council National Summit, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Gabbard declined to say whether she views Trump as a conservative, instead describing his policy approach as “common sense.”

In addition to IVF, she pointed to the Trump-backed criminal justice reform that reduced sentences for many inmates. She also highlighted a foreign policy philosophy that seeks to avoid U.S. involvement in global conflicts like the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“A lot of political independents and a lot of Democrats don’t recognize the Democrat Party of today where not a single Democrat in the House or Senate is standing up and saying we need to bring an end to the war in Ukraine,” Gabbard said.

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard answers a question as she speaks to the media after a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., both former Democrats, have emerged as the Trump campaign’s most visible national surrogates in his bid to win over undecided Democrats and independents. The campaign has been slow to embrace other would-be allies, including Haley, who issued her first fundraising appeal on Trump’s behalf just last week.

Harris has an organized program to attract Republicans

By comparison, Harris has adopted a more organized program to connect with Republican voters.

In recent days, her campaign has hosted events around abortion rights, border security and small business creation that featured Republican officials. Seven Republicans were granted speaking slots at the Democratic National Convention last month. And a slew of outside groups are spending millions of dollars to help Harris connect with disaffected Republicans, including Republican Voters Against Trump and the Anti-Psychopath PAC.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as she joins Oprah Winfrey at Oprah’s Unite for America Live Streaming event Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in Farmington Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

At the same time, Harris has embraced a much more muscular foreign policy. She has vowed to feature a Republican in her Cabinet if elected. And she is speaking more openly about owning a gun — and her willingness to use it.

“I’m a gun owner,” Harris told Oprah Winfrey late last week.

“I did not know that!” the television star, a Harris supporter, said in surprise.

“If somebody breaks in my house they’re getting shot. Sorry,” Harris responded with a laugh.

Harris’ support for robust U.S. leadership on the global stage has already helped her win the support of more than 100 Republican national security and foreign policy officials who previously served under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Trump himself. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is among the notable converts.

Both candidates still largely align with their parties

While Harris and Trump are embracing policies that appeal to the other side, their priorities still largely align with their party’s tradition.

Trump opposes abortion rights and says he is proud that the Supreme Court he transformed with conservative appointees overturned Roe v. Wade. He says abortion laws should be left to states, but he plans to vote this fall to uphold a Florida law that bans all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women realize they’re pregnant.

Front row, left to right, Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., pose for a photograph after speaking about the need to protect rights to in vitro fertilization (IVF), on the Senate steps at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The Republican former president has promised the largest deportation in U.S. history and pledges to finish a massive border wall to stop illegal immigration. He calls climate change “a hoax” and has outlined an energy plan that offers strong support for the fossil fuel industry. He wants to expand tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. He opposes virtually all restrictions on gun ownership. And he strongly opposes diversity and inclusion initiatives designed to promote civil rights.

Still, his team believes his policy platform offers much for persuadable Democrats to like.

Related Articles

Trump spokesman Brian Hughes argued that the GOP nominee has appeal among African Americans, Hispanics and labor union members. Notably, the Teamsters Union, which has long supported Democrats, announced last week it would not endorse either presidential candidate, which was viewed as a big win for Trump.

“We are already demonstrably inside their base no matter how hard they insist we’re not,” Hughes said.

Harris, meanwhile, has only just begun to articulate specific policy plans, having been in the presidential race for just eight weeks. But her record and her recent statements make clear that she favors liberal policies in most cases.

Harris supports abortion rights as they were protected under Roe. She backs a ban on assault weapons and wants to extend to all Americans the $35 cap on insulin and $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug spending enacted for seniors under President Joe Biden. She called for a ban on price gouging for groceries while pushing for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.

She has pledged bold action to combat climate change, although she says she supports fracking — a shift from her position in 2020. She supports labor unions. And she supports voting rights legislation designed to combat racial discrimination.

“Vice President Harris’ focus on opportunity and freedom speaks to fundamental American values that transcend party lines,” said Harris spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg. “Any American looking to turn the page on Trump’s chaos and division and chart a new way forward for America has a home in Vice President Harris’ campaign.”

​ Orange County Register 

Angel City FC forced to settle for a draw against Portland

• September 24, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Both Angel City Football Club and the Portland Thorns entered Monday night’s match in a fight for their playoff lives.

The difference, was the Thorns were above the playoff line, despite suffering four consecutive losses.

For Angel City, this two-game homestand will go a long way toward determining the club’s postseason fate.

At the sound of the final whistle, the teams were left to share the points in a 2-2 draw in front of a sellout crowd of 22,000 at BMO Stadium. The draw moves Angel City (6-11-4) up slightly to 22 points, still in 10th place in the 14-team NWSL, but three points behind Racing Louisville FC (6-8-7) for the eighth and final playoff spot with five matches left.

Angel City trailed 2-1 after Olivia Moultrie’s goal in the 64th minute. Fortunately for the hosts, they found an equalizer in the 76th minute when Claire Emslie took advantage of a spilled rebound by Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold for the goal-line tap-in.

Late in stoppage time, Angel City thought it had a chance at a penalty kick, when Arnold and Messiah Bright collided. Arnold went up toward the ball, but in the process, trampled over Bright.

“I’ve seen it five times and my mind is blown,” Angel City coach Becki Tweed said. “I have no understanding, no explanation.”

The referee’s response to the pool reporter question was that “the ball was out of play,” adding that “according to Law 12, fouls and misconduct, direct and indirect and penalty kicks can only be awarded when the ball is in play.”

“I’m proud of the heart, fight and desire that we showed as a team. We created opportunities, put them under pressure, but it was unlucky to get rewarded for it. It was not the outcome we wanted, it could have gone either way.”

The Thorns (8-9-4, 28 points) opened the scoring in the second half on Morgan Weaver’s goal in the 49th minute. That goal wasn’t without some controversy. Behind the play, Alyssa Thompson was knocked to the ground, losing the ball. Tweed thought it was due to a head injury, which should have brought the ball back.

Related Articles

“The game should stop,” Tweed said. “She was hit in the head, but we have to be better behind the play, but there was a lot of emphasis on head injuries this season.”

Thompson’s goal was her fifth in the last five games. She hadn’t scored any before the Summer Cup break, but she has been on her game since the restart, eclipsing her 2023 season total (four).

The Thorns were hamstrung entering the game with star forward Sophia Smith (11 goals) sidelined by an ankle injury.

“We’re very aware of where we are in the table,” midfielder Madison Hammond said. “We know that coming back against any team is not easy and we know that the rest of the season is not going to be easy.”

Angel City faces a quick turnaround, getting ready to host the Washington Spirit on Friday night.

incredible goals pure chaos

NWSL AFTER DARK pic.twitter.com/kkUKXMj7Fm

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 24, 2024

ALYSSA THOMPSON IS UNSTOPPABLE pic.twitter.com/i5FfoGdxUS

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 24, 2024

​ Orange County Register