Homeland Security chief says travelers with no REAL ID can fly for now, but with likely extra steps

• May 6, 2025

By REBECCA SANTANA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Travelers who aren’t REAL ID compliant by the upcoming deadline this week will still be able to fly but should be prepared for extra scrutiny, the head of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

Kristi Noem told a Congressional panel that 81% of travelers already have IDs that comply with the REAL ID requirements. She said security checkpoints will also be accepting passports and tribal identification when the deadline hits Wednesday.

Those who still lack an identification that complies with the REAL ID law “may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step,” Noem said.

“But people will be allowed to fly,” she said. “We will make sure it’s as seamless as possible.”

REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that Homeland Security says is a more secure form of identification. It was a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission and signed into law in 2005.

The commission recommended the government set security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs. It was supposed to be rolled out in 2008 but implementation has been repeatedly delayed.

Besides needing a REAL ID to fly domestically, people will also need one to access certain federal buildings and facilities.

In recent weeks, Noem has been warning the American public about the upcoming deadline. In a television ad put out by Homeland Security, she warned that these IDs were needed for air travel and for entering public buildings, adding: “These IDs keep our country safe.”

A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license has a symbol (in most states, a star) in the top corner of the card.

​ Orange County Register 

Gaza aid dries up as Israeli blockade enters a third month

• May 6, 2025

By JULIA FRANKEL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has blockaded all entrances to the Gaza Strip since March.

While pummeling the strip with airstrikes, it has banned any food, water, shelter or medication from being trucked into the Palestinian territory, where the U.N. says the vast majority of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. Of the 59 captives remaining in Gaza, 24 are believed to still be alive.

Here’s a look at the humanitarian crisis spiraling in Gaza, through key statistics and charts:

The current blockade has lasted longer than any previous Israeli halt in aid to Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel froze aid to Gaza for two weeks. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Now, Gaza is entering its third month without supplies. Thousands of trucks queue along the border of the territory, waiting to be let in. Community kitchens are closing down and bakeries are running out of fuel. Families spend hours waiting in line for small portions of rice.

In their desperation, Palestinians have begun scavenging warehouses and stores for anything left. Aid groups report a rise in looting incidents over the last week. At least some have been looted by armed groups.

Meanwhile, Israel is moving forward with plans to seize all of Gaza and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time. It says it will expand operations there, defying calls for an immediate renewal of a ceasefire from families whose relatives are still held hostage in Gaza. Israeli officials say there are 59 hostages in Gaza, including the bodies of 35.

Israel’s offensive has displaced more than 90% of Gaza’s population and, Palestinian health officials say, killed more than 52,000 people, many of them women and children. Palestinian officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.

​ Orange County Register 

Woman shot dead while driving in Orange neighborhood

• May 6, 2025

One woman was killed and a second escaped injury in a shooting in Orange early Tuesday morning, May 6, authorities said.

The victim was driving a Honda SUV southbound on Highland Street nearing Del Mar Avenue about 12:30 a.m. when a male fired multiple times into the SUV, Orange police said.

The male, whose age was unknown, ran off and was being sought by police.

The SUV driver died at the scene, police said. Her identity was withheld by police pending notification of her relatives. A passenger was uninjured.

Investigators continue to investigate in the residential neighborhood, which sits just west of the 55 Freeway and south of Meats Avenue.

In November, a man was arrested near the same intersection after he allegedly fired shots at three Orange police officers as they approached him. He ran off but was found in a vacant apartment and taken into custody.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump administration asks judge to toss suit restricting access to abortion medication

• May 6, 2025

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and REBECCA BOONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three Republican-led states seeking to cut off telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone.

Justice Department attorneys on Monday stayed the legal course charted by the Biden administration, though they didn’t directly weigh in on the underlying issue of access to the drug, which is part of the nation’s most common method of abortion.

Rather, the government argued the states don’t have the legal right, or standing, to sue.

“The states are free to pursue their claims in a district where venue is proper, but the states’ claims before this court must be dismissed or transferred pursuant to the venue statute’s mandatory command,” federal government attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit from Idaho, Kansas and Missouri argues that the Food and Drug Administration should roll back access to mifepristone. They filed their complaint after the Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone last year. They want the FDA to prohibit telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone, require three in-office visits and restrict the point in a pregnancy when it can be used.

The case is being considered in Texas by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee who once ruled in favor of halting approval for the drug.

Kacsmaryk’s original ruling came in a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion groups. It was narrowed by an appeals court before being tossed out by the Supreme Court, which found the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to sue.

The three states later moved to revive the case, arguing they did have legal standing because access to the drug undermined their abortion laws.

But the Department of Justice attorneys said the states can’t just piggyback on the earlier lawsuit as a way to keep the case in Texas.

Nothing is stopping the states from filing the lawsuit someplace else, attorney Daniel Schwei wrote, but the venue has to have some connection to the claims being made.

Besides, Schwei wrote, the states are challenging actions the FDA took in 2016, when it first loosened restrictions on mifepristone. That’s well past the six-year time limit to sue, he said.

Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in Idaho. Missouri had a strict ban, but clinics recently began offering abortions again after voters approved a new constitutional amendment for reproductive rights. Abortion is generally legal up to 22 weeks in Kansas, where voters rejected an anti-abortion ballot measure in 2022, though the state does have age restrictions.

Trump told Time magazine in December he would not restrict access to abortion medication. On the campaign trail, the Republican said abortion is an issue for the states and stressed that he appointed justices to the Supreme Court who were in the majority when striking down the national right to abortion in 2022.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on abortion seems to have shifted at times, drawing criticism from both abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion forces. During his first confirmation hearing in January, he repeatedly said, “I have always believed abortion is a tragedy,” when pressed about his views.

Mifepristone is usually used in combination with a second drug for medication abortion, which has accounted for more than three-fifths of all abortions in the U.S. since the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

​ Orange County Register 

Soda drive-through will offer free internet famous drinks on May 12

• May 6, 2025

A pop-up soda drive-through is coming to Los Angeles and it’s offering drinks that have gone viral on the internet for free.

Soda company Olipop, which sells healthier versions of soda in various unique and nostalgic flavors, is organizing the free drive-thru experience on Monday, May 12 to mark the launch of its Orange Cream flavor. In addition to the Orange Cream soda, the pop-up drive-through will also include recreations of unusual drinks that have gone viral on platforms such as TikTok.

“We’re basically bringing internet famous drinks to life,” said Steven Vigilante, the company’s director of strategic partnerships. “We’re doing our own version and it’s all in service of the launch of our new flavor, which is Orange Cream,” he added.

Among the viral star drinks being served that day is the Cream Milk soda, which is a nostalgic drink made with the Orange Cream pop blended with vanilla almond milk and topped with a vanilla-frosted rim made with fruity cereal. Also on the drink menu is the Dirty Protein soda that once again combines the company’s Orange Cream soda with a Koia vanilla bean protein shake.

The star of the internet drinks served during the pop-up might be the Spicy Pickle soda. It was a drink created on the spot by singer Dua Lipa  when she poured a can of Diet Coke into a cup of ice and then added pickle juice, then some juice from a jalapeño jar.

“Of course it went viral because people were like ‘who would do that?’ and then everyone wanted to try it and post their reaction to it,” Vigilante said.

Those who attend can either drive in through the drive-through area or park nearby and walk in. There will also be free merch giveaways in partnership with Crocs.

Olipop Drive-Thru

When: 1:30-6 p.m., Monday, May 12

Where: 4450 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles

Information: drinkolipop.com/

​ Orange County Register 

Can I be sued for posting a critical review online? Ask the lawyer

• May 6, 2025

Q: We stayed at a vacation rental. It was not a quality residence, and we felt it made sense to post about our experience. We have now received a “cease and desist” letter from a lawyer, which indicates we have to retract the post or remove it, and if not, we may have a lawsuit on our hands. Do we have to comply?

W.B., La Habra

A: There is an expression “no good deed goes unpunished.”  I suspect your reason for posting the review was to inform others who may think of renting that location, and possibly also to get the owner to fix the place. Your “reward”  is an attorney jumping down your throat.

To be able to assess the situation, it would be necessary to review what you posted. Some basic questions arise: Is your post truthful? If it is, truth is a defense to defamation. In addition, statements of opinion are protected. For example, if you post, “We think this is not a place worth what they are charging,” that would likely be deemed an expression of opinion, not a factual claim. Further, California has the Anti-SLAPP law (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), which is designed to seek to promptly dismiss lawsuits that try to silence people for speaking their minds.

So did you knowingly make a false statement? Did you accuse them of criminal conduct without any basis? Did you threaten, harass or disclose some confidential information? If not, you may well defeat any claim brought, and I have to wonder why the owner can’t simply refute online what you posted. The dilemma remains a concern that the lawyer who wrote to you is going to take legal action, which at minimum will cost you some stress and bucks. Thus, if you are sufficiently worried, consult with qualified counsel.

In closing, I want to be able to say “the lawyer is huffing and puffing,” but there is no way for me to be able to make that determination without more details.

Q: We breed dogs. Another breeder has now posted very derogatory remarks about us. What can we do about this? We consider it absolutely false and harmful to our reputation and business.

C.S., Corona

A: If you are giving serious thought to taking legal action, first evaluate if, in fact, what has been posted meets the legal threshold for defamation. You have to prove (a) publication, (b) the statement pertains to you (and/or your business), (c) it is false, (d) the person acted improperly and (e) damage has ensued.

One thought is that a cease and desist letter may be called for, insisting that the item be removed from the platform where it was posted, as well as cessation of further defamatory statements, and possibly a public retraction or apology. The cease and desist letter will contain a deadline for compliance.

Also, report the offensive content directly to the social media platform; most have policies that prohibit defamatory content, and some have mechanisms for reporting violations.

If these efforts do not resolve the matter, a defamation lawsuit would typically be the next step. I have seen where a party published what I would call a “stinging rebuttal” to the remarks made, and not taken formal legal action. After all, lawsuits are not fun, can be costly and can be risky. So before going forward in court, make sure you have a good grasp of your chances of prevailing, the risks you face and just who you should pursue; claims against the party who made the post are often treated differently from claims you might include against the media platform (which has a level of statutory protection). Also, be sure to comprehend that seeking injunctive relief (asking that the court to require one or more of those sued to take certain action) is different from asking for monetary damages.

Ron Sokol has been a practicing attorney for over 40 years, and has also served many times as a judge pro tem, mediator, and arbitrator.  It is important to keep in mind that this column presents a summary of the law, and is not to be treated or considered legal advice, let alone a substitute for actual consultation with a qualified professional.

​ Orange County Register 

Israel’s military says it has fully disabled Yemen’s main airport with airstrikes

• May 6, 2025

By ELENA BECATOROS and JON GAMBRELL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Tuesday it launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen that fully disabled the country’s international airport in the capital, Sanaa.

The strikes came after Israel launched similar attacks on Monday in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike the previous day on Israel’s international airport.

The Houthis’ satellite news channel al-Masirah reported the strikes, confirming the airport had been hit. Several power plants were also struck, Israel’s military said.

Footage aired on Israeli television showed thick black plumes of smoke rising above the skyline of Sanaa. Social media video purported to show multiple strikes around Sanaa, with black smoke rising as the thumps of the blast echoed against the surrounding mountains.

There was no immediate information on any casualties.

The strike came shortly after the military issued a warning on social media for people to evacuate the area of Yemen’s international airport.

“We urge you to immediately evacuate the area of the airport and to warn anyone nearby to distance themselves immediately,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media Tuesday, attaching a map of Sanaa International Airport. “Failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives.”

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strike should be seen as a warning to the “head of the Iranian octopus,” which he said bears direct responsibility for attacks by the Houthis against Israel.

On Monday, Israel targeted Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Red Sea province of Hodeida, killing at least one person and wounding 35. The rebels’ media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port, while others hit a cement factory in the district of Bajil, 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least four people and wounded 39 others.

The Houthis on Sunday launched a missile that struck an access road near Israel’s main airport near Tel Aviv, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were slightly injured. It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Ben Gurion airport since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza. While most missiles launched by the Houthis have been intercepted, some have penetrated Israel’s missile defense systems, causing damage.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said the strikes carried out on Israel and Yemen’s airport marked a “grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context.” He urged the parties to show restraint.

The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, raising their profile as the last member of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.

The U.S. military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.

Israel has repeatedly struck against the rebels in Yemen. It struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv.

In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a missile targeted Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida.

Gambrell contributed from Dubai. Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Irvine’s Great Park ‘whooshing’ into new era of construction

• May 6, 2025

It’s not yesterday’s Great Park.

That’s part of the message Great Park Chairman Mike Carroll plans to deliver on Tuesday evening, May 6, during a State of the Park address in front of an expected crowd of more than 2,000 people.

For years, the park has been defined by acres of sports fields and its signature big orange balloon that gives passengers an aerial view of Orange County.

But many more signature amenities are coming to the park in the years ahead — about $1 billion worth, in fact — and Carroll wants to tell you about them.

“Tuesday’s the day we let everyone know we’re a lot more than a balloon and some sports fields,” Carroll said, “We’re a major metropolitan park on the build.”

“Behind these fences,” he said during an interview at the park Monday, pointing to a large construction zone by the Wild Rivers water park, “is a world-class park taking shape.”

Irvine calls that area under construction the “Heart of the Park,” meaning that if you’ve been to the Great Park at all, you haven’t seen anything like what it could become.

In all, the Great Park — at the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine — will be more than 1,300 acres.

It’ll be bigger than San Diego’s Balboa Park, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and New York City’s Central Park.

Yet, visits to the Great Park probably haven’t felt that significant. That’s because only a fraction of the park has been developed.

Carroll acknowledged in an interview Monday that building the Great Park got off to a “bumpy first couple of years” and that Tuesday’s event is a “bit of a reboot.”

Orange County voters approved the idea for a central park, nature preserve and multi-use development at the site of the former air base back in 2002. That plan won out over an idea to convert the base into an international airport much larger than John Wayne Airport.

Over two decades, private developers have built up thousands of units of housing around the park, but the city has been slower to bring amenities into the park itself.

Carroll, who in 2019 joined the Irvine City Council, which oversees the park, said the dissolution of redevelopment agencies in California in 2012 caused financing issues, which in turn caused delays.

Then, after the city recovered from that to develop the sports complex and related amenities, including the 5,000-seat soccer stadium home to the OC Soccer Club, the coronavirus pandemic “really put everything on hold for a bit,” he said.

Nevertheless, Carroll believes the park’s doldrums are behind it, and a golden age of construction lies ahead.

“Each and every major metropolitan park in America took decades to come to life,” Carroll said. “I’m excited that it’s officially go time for the Great Park.”

Financing for the park comes from community and redevelopment-related funds, city bonds and a community facilities district tax levied on residents near the Great Park in the Altair, Cadence Park and Novel Park neighborhoods.

Currently, the city of Irvine is building out 800 additional acres of the park, adding 22 acres of cascading lakes with waterfalls, islands and a shorefront restaurant to which diners will be able to boat up to or paddle up to in canoes.

Nearby will be a 10,000-person-capacity amphitheater, set to open in 2028, which will replace the temporary Great Park Live venue that opened last year and will become a sort of “Irvine Meadows 2.0,” Carroll said.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to have many of our citywide events and graduations here,” he added as staffers explained how the dug-in nature of the amphitheater and the placement of buildings will help insulate the sound from nearby neighborhoods.

On the other side of the lakes, the city plans to add an arboretum and botanical garden, a veterans memorial, a retail center and, eventually, a central library.

“Every great city needs to have a great library,” Carroll said.

A part of the park known as the cultural terrace, which broke ground last year, will become home to the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, the Pretend City Children’s Museum, the Orange County Music & Dance school and a forthcoming Asian American history museum.

These spaces will open over the next few years, with the city working to launch many of the venues by the time the Olympics come to Southern California in 2028, Assistant City Manager Sean Crumby said.

“It’s such a diversity — museums, parks, retail, sports — it’s tremendous,” Carroll said. “I think this can be the finest metropolitan park in America.”

Tuesday’s event — at Great Park Live — will showcase all these attributes in virtual reality, but the biggest tech draw is something else entirely. It’s the chance to step inside a Whoosh cable car, the centerpiece of what could become the park’s futuristic transportation system.

In April, the City Council approved entering into negotiations with Swyft Cities to build an autonomous elevated cable transit network that could ferry visitors around the park.

Dubbed the “Whoosh” system, cars in the battery-powered aerial transit system can reach up to 30 mph and could eventually take people from the nearby Metrolink station across the 4-mile-square park in a matter of minutes.

The Whoosh system has not been built anywhere else in the world, but another pilot project is underway in Queenstown, New Zealand.

While Irvine has only just begun to negotiate with Swyft Cities, both parties have expressed interest in a deal where Swyft Cities would front the cost for the initial segment of the park’s Whoosh system in exchange for naming it as “the transportation module for the Great Park.”

The initial segment would connect the park’s visitor center to The Canopy retail area, a stretch estimated to cost almost $10 million and that could move nearly 3,000 people per hour, co-founder Clay Griggs said.

Griggs said the Great Park system could eventually include 12 stations and move up to 10,000 people per hour around the entire park.

The city would need to spend an estimated $40 million more to make that happen.

At an April council meeting, Crumby said the city has looked at other transportation options for the park, such as trams, people movers and bus circulators. The Whoosh system, in early estimates, would be cheaper and less disruptive to existing ground infrastructure, according to city staffers.

Representatives from the company, as well as from the forthcoming Great Park museums and the Anaheim Ducks (due to their connection with Great Park Ice), will all be at Tuesday’s family friendly showcase.

The State of the Great Park runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Live music and refreshments will be provided.

​ Orange County Register