Editorial: Orange County Fire Authority sets county’s finances ablaze

• October 7, 2026

The Orange County Fire Authority, which provides fire and emergency services for unincorporated county areas and 23 member cities, just approved a 25% raise for its firefighters over the next five years. The costs will be borne by cities at a time when many are facing fiscal challenges, making the decision fiscally irresponsible.

It’s just the latest example of how public-employee unions pressure government agencies to continually ratchet up pay and benefits regardless of the impact on taxpayers. The problem is particularly acute when it comes to public-safety budgets. The public is understandably supportive of firefighters, but that results in the approval of contracts that require cutbacks in other services, or service “crowd out.”

Furthermore, public-safety unions generously fund local politicians’ campaigns — and every ambitious elected official seeks out fire-union endorsements. “Many of the board members who voted in favor of the raise received campaign funding from the county firefighters union,” per the Voice of OC. Among them is Buena Park mayor and supervisorial candidate Connor Traut, who as of this writing has benefited from $428,000 in spending by the union. 

Of course, this is no one-sided affair. Voice of OC noted that the union also contributes directly to the local Democratic and Republican parties. No wonder massive raises sail through virtually uncontested.

Readers should look at Transparent California, which uses public records to reveal pay for statewide public employees. Our perusal shows 103 OCFA employees earning between $400,000 and $597,000 annually in total compensation. They receive the generous 3% at 50 pension plan that allows them to retire with 90% of their final pay at age 50. 

We respect firefighters’ work, but there are typically long lines for firefighter jobs given the compensation. The recruitment concerns cited by unions are largely a myth. Firefighter unions, by the way, were behind efforts to stop cities from exiting these costly contracts by creating their own fire agencies with more reasonable pension benefits. They tout their public service, but it’s all about boosting pay and reducing competition.

Fortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently vetoed two bills that would have sparked a pension-increasing frenzy. Even when the state does the right thing, there’s no controlling taxes and protecting services when local officials act irresponsibly.

​ Orange County Register 

Some guardrails on ChatGPT for Teens don’t work as promised, watchdog group says

• October 7, 2026

By BARBARA ORTUTAY

Some of the guardrails that OpenAI included in its ChatGPT for Teens product don’t work as intended and the chatbot poses an “unacceptable risk” to children, according to a report Wednesday by Common Sense Media.

The watchdog group urged OpenAI to restrict the chatbot to adults “until it can offer a safe, developmentally appropriate experience.”

OpenAI said the group’s testing doesn’t reflect how the chatbot’s safeguards work.

Parents, educators and child development experts have been sounding alarms over children’s use of AI chatbots, which have been blamed for facilitating cheating on schoolwork and even suicide.

While even adults can fall victim to anthropomorphizing AI and develop unhealthy relationships with it, teenagers’ brains are not yet fully developed and they can be particularly vulnerable, child development experts say.

“We are concerned that ChatGPT for Teens could give parents false confidence in guardrails that frequently don’t work,” said the report from Common Sense Media, a group that advocates for using digital media sensibly.

Its report said that some teen-mode features worked as intended, including the chatbot’s refusal of explicit sexual role-play. Others that did not work as intended included alerts meant to notify parents if their child is at risk for suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, along with support for teens in crisis, Common Sense Media said.

“ChatGPT still talks like a friend when teens treat it like a person,” the group said, though OpenAI had promised that the chatbot is prevented from suggesting it has personal feelings toward the user or implying that it is conscious or experiences emotions.

OpenAI said it is “deeply committed to teen safety,” to developing safeguards and giving parents tools to guide their teens’ use of AI.

The San Francisco company said its review of the report’s methodology shows “the bulk of their testing may have begun and concluded before activation of parental controls was complete, making their findings inaccurate.”

Common Sense Media receives funding from OpenAI and other tech companies, including those whose services it evaluates.

​ Orange County Register 

Aerosmith and Steven Tyler reuniting at star-studded Hollywood Bowl shows

• October 7, 2026

Three years after an injury to Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler’s vocal cords forced the hard rock legends to abandon their Peace Out farewell tour, the full band will return for a pair of shows at the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 29 and Nov. 1.

California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends will include Tyler singing with Aerosmith for part of the night and an all-star lineup of friends joining the band, too. Guests announced Wednesday include the Black Crowes, Run-D.M.C., Heart, Duff McKagan and Slash from Guns N’ Roses, Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez from Alice in Chains, and Billy Idol and Steve Stevens.

The lineup will vary night to night, but with Don Was as musical director, it will also include Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Pat Monahan of Train, Sammy Hagar, Eric Church, Sully Erna of Godsmack, Adam Wakeman, Audley Freed, Kenny Aronoff, and more.

Aerosmith, which formed in Boston in 1970, had big plans in 2023 for what was billed as its farewell tour.

“PEACE OUT! After 50 years, 10 world tours, and playing for over 100 million fans… It’s time for one last go!” the band announced on its Instagram page in March 2023.

But in September 2023, on the third date of a world tour that was to end in February 2025, the tour was pushed back a year due to Tyler’s vocal cord injury. Then in August of that year, it was canceled and Aerosmith announced its retirement as Tyler’s voice remained damaged. A performance scheduled for the Kia Forum in December 2024 was among the canceled dates.

In time, Tyler did start showing up for a song or two here and there. In September 2025, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and Yungblud performed during an Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the 2025 MTV VMAs. That same month, he joined Perry during the Joe Perry Project’s opening set for the Who at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2025.

The band teased its return to performing earlier this week with a short online clip of Tyler with rock photographer Ross Halfin adding letters to the Hollywood Bowl marquee on Highland Avenue.

“Do you even know how to spell Aerosmith?” Halfin asks as Tyler stands on a ladder to add the words “With Friends” above the dates Oct. 29 and Nov. 1.

“That looks great! Don’t you miss performing?” Halfin asks a few seconds later as he and Tyler look at the marquee.

“Of all the things I miss, I miss my mind the most,” Tyler replies.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 8 in a presale for Citi cardholders. General sales open at 10 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 10. For more details, go to aerosmith.com.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump’s executive order on dyed diesel will offer little relief, farmers and truckers say

• October 7, 2026

By SARAH RAZA and MAE ANDERSON

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Farmers, truckers and economists say a move to cut taxes on diesel will provide little relief from record-high fuel prices that have soared since the U.S. attacked Iran months ago.

Industry groups said they appreciate President Donald Trump’s executive order expanding the use of a diesel now reserved for off-road work, but farmers already have access to the fuel and many have already wrapped up harvest. Truckers will struggle to navigate differing state rules.

“In the context of diesel prices that are over two dollars more than they were last year, it just doesn’t come close to closing that wound,” said Matt Perdue, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union.

With less than a month to go before the November election, diesel prices continue to hit record highs as farmers begin their fall harvest. Many have been feeling the squeeze as costs for inputs like diesel, fertilizer and seed have soared thanks to refinery constraints and supply disruptions amid the Iran war.

Diesel averaged $6.30 per gallon across the country on Wednesday, more than 70% higher than one year ago, according to motor club AAA. The executive order defers the $0.24 federal tax per gallon of regular diesel, used for road projects, until the end of the year. Most states also levy their own tax on diesel.

“Dyed” diesel is the same as regular diesel, except for its red dye to help law enforcement enforce penalties for on-road use. It’s already allowed for off-road purposes like farming equipment, such as tractors and combines, as well as construction and heating uses.

Who will see benefits

Savings can compound if states take similar actions; many have eased restrictions or waived taxes on dyed diesel, including South Dakota and Iowa. Perdue said North Dakota has waived the tax on regular diesel. But where the state decision is focused on farmers, he believes the federal decision would largely benefit those on other levels of the supply chain.

Farmers who will see the most benefit are those who haul their own product, like livestock or fresh produce, on public roads. Those who have already wrapped up harvesting won’t see savings.

“Most of our diesel use is behind us,” said Perdue, who grows spring wheat, durum and canola on his family farm.

Both trucking companies and independent truckers may not see much relief either. The effect is likely to be negligible for big trucking companies because the order is on a federal level and states make their own rules, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote in a social media post.

“The largest diesel users are the least likely to use dyed diesel,” he wrote. “A national carrier crossing five or six states in a day faces enormous risk with a patchwork of rules, legal in one state, and subject to fines in the next.”

Many states exempt road diesel from sales tax but apply sales tax to dyed diesel instead, he said.

Easing limits on red-dyed diesel will likely have a minimal effect for small truckers, who pay for fuel up front, said Todd Spencer, president and CEO of trade group the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. He estimates every $1 increase per gallon in fuel costs independent truckers about $400 more per week.

Increased demand for dyed diesel

The savings will be small, but it could still increase competition for dyed diesel, said David Ortega, food economics and policy professor at Michigan State University.

“I think there’s a real chance this could backfire and make the situation worse for farmers,” he said. “Basically anybody that’s running a truck on the highway on regular diesel can now be using this off-highway diesel. Even someone that owns a diesel pickup truck potentially has access to this other type of diesel.”

Perdue in North Dakota said he expects a “rush for dyed diesel, and we’ll see how the supply responds.”

But not all dyed diesel pump stations are set up for larger trucks like semis, said Paul Mitchell, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“It’s going to come down to infrastructure ability to get your vehicles to a place that you can use and fill them up with,” he said.

Supply shortages persist

Henry Hanscom, American Trucking Associations chief advocacy and public affairs officer, pointed out that the executive order directs temporary penalty relief and potential tax deferral for using red-dyed diesel, not outright tax forgiveness. He said the ATA would review the Internal Revenue Service’s implementing guidance of the policy when it is available.

Last month, Trump had threatened a diesel export ban, though he later said it is off the table. On Friday, G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products.

“One of the problems we have right now in the world is there’s not enough diesel fuel,” said Gregg Ibendahl, farm management specialist at Kansas State University.

But underlying causes like geopolitical issues won’t be solved overnight.

“The problem we’ve accumulated right now with the Strait of Hormuz and the Russia-Ukraine war, those are going to be longer term things to get fixed,” he said. “Getting that world supply back up again is going to be, I think, at least a year, even in the best cases.”

Anderson reported from New York.

​ Orange County Register 

Cypress man gets 144 years to life for fatal shooting in Long Beach of 12-year-old boy

• October 7, 2026

A 24-year-old Cypress man who went out in search of rival gang members to shoot in Long Beach but ended up shooting at three children — killing one and injuring another — was sentenced Wednesday, Oct. 7, to 144 years to life in state prison.

Reshawn Jonae Strother received the sentence after giving a statement of apology to the victims and their families in Long Beach Superior Court.

Strother, his then girlfriend Destenee Scipio and two other men went out the night of May 9, 2023, looking for rival gang members but wound up shooting at three children as they walked near Lewis Avenue and Hill Street.

Killed in the shooting was 12-year-old Eric Gregory Brown III. A then-14-year-old girl was shot in the leg but survived. A 13-year-old girl escaped the gunfire unharmed.

On Wednesday, one of the girls spoke in court while the other had a statement read by Deputy District Attorney David Kwon. They remembered Eric, who they referred to as “Big E,” as a funny, joyful boy who always knew how to make them laugh even when they were going through hard times. They said he had his whole life ahead of him.

They lamented being forced to talk about Eric in the past tense. They also talked about the difficulty of facing Strother in court while testifying on the witness stand.

“I didn’t testify to ruin the defendant’s life,” the girl who was unscathed told the court. “I testified to get Eric justice.

“It makes me so sick that even though he took a child’s life, he showed no remorse,” she said, adding that she still has sleepless nights because of what she saw.

The injured girl loved to play basketball but that was taken away after she was shot in the leg, she wrote in her statement.

“It changed the way I see the world,” she said, adding that the pain in her leg is a “reminder of something we never wished to experience.”

Eric’s grandmother, Sonia Age, also spoke and said she hoped that Strother would “always see (Eric’s) smile, and I hope you find God.”

Scipio, who testified against Strother and took a plea deal to voluntary manslaughter, apologized to the victims and their families in a statement to the court.

“I’m so sorry for the role I played and the action I didn’t take,” Scipio wrote, adding she was sorry for “not protecting your children” and that she “should have been a stronger person instead of a coward.

“I am sick to my stomach with shame,” she said.

Scipio was sentenced on Sept. 30 to six years as a result of the plea deal. She and Strother have been in custody since their arrests two months after the shooting.

Strother had sought retaliation after he was shot at while driving Scipio’s car earlier that day near Orange Avenue and Hellman Street, evidence presented during the case showed. Strother was not hit, but a bullet grazed the car.

Scipio had attempted to keep Strother from using her car to carry out his plan. Surveillance video from a hotel they stayed at shows Strother slam Scipio onto the car and choke her for several seconds before letting her go. They both then got in the car and left, picking up two other men in Downey and Carson before the shooting.

Those men were not involved in the case against Strother and Scipio. It was unclear if they were identified or arrested.

In September, a jury convicted Strother of murder, three counts of attempted murder, assault by means of force, conspiracy to commit murder, and unlawful firearm activity.

Two of the charges stemmed from a shooting in Los Angeles when Strother injured two people, including Scipio, at a recording studio. The other victim in that shooting was left paralyzed.

Judge Laura Laesecke on Wednesday referenced evidence that showed the men in the car had intimidated other people with their guns before firing upon the children.

She said the case involved “a lot of violence, very scary.” She referenced the egregiousness of the crimes and the planning that went into the shooting of the children, including the turning off cellphones and leaving them elsewhere so they couldn’t be tracked.

The judge imposed the harshest penalties on all but one count.

Before the sentencing, Strother was given a chance to speak. He turned toward the victims and their families and apologized, said he wanted to ask for their forgiveness and said he had no excuses.

Strother said he did not know he had killed a child until he turned his phone back on and learned about it through Google. He said Eric’s death was a result of his “compulsive decisions, compulsive behavior.”

He said he sees Eric’s face every night.

At the time of the shooting, he had a three-year-old son and Scipio was pregnant with his other son.

“I will pay my debt to you and society for hurting children,” Strother said. “That wasn’t called for. They were children.”

​ Orange County Register 

Flight attendants’ union flags safety concerns over Trump’s Washington arch

• October 7, 2026

By GARY FIELDS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The union representing thousands of flight attendants said Wednesday it has safety concerns about President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch that will be on final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Flight Attendants Association-CWA President Sara Nelson said the 250-foot arch compounds multiple safety concerns that she said have gone unaddressed from a deadly January 2025 crash over the Potomac River that killed 67 people. Nelson also criticized Trump’s plan to turn the arch into “a top grade military complex” able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition.

“DCA is already stretched to its limit, we do not need an obstacle taking up space in our flight path,” said Nelson. “Nor should commercial aviation have to dodge military drones, missiles or snipers while attempting to take off or land at Washington National Airport. Safety first always.”

Nelson’s statement on behalf of the union, which represents 55,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines, joins the voices of an assemblage of veterans’ groups, Congress members and others with safety concerns and complaints about the memorial’s threat to historic and symbolic sightlines between different landmarks in Washington, D.C.

Though the arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued, saying the project needs to be approved by Congress.

Last month, the Republican president said in a social media post that he had agreed, at the “strong request” of the military, to convert the planned 250-foot-tall memorial arch “into a top grade Military Complex.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said last month before Trump’s announcement on it becoming a military complex that the arch would not pose a hazard to aircraft, but it should be “appropriately marked with a non-standard eternal flame on top of the structure and floodlight projectors pointed towards the arch to make it noticeable for pilots.

An assessment by the National Park Service said the memorial arch could disrupt the historical significance of dozens of nearby sites. The Park Service approved the project despite its assessment.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced early last month that excavation work on the site in Memorial Circle would begin within weeks. The Interior Department did not respond immediately to questions on the status of that work.

The arch is one of several projects around Washington that Trump has undertaken as he remakes the city from renovating one of its storied public golf courses to threatening to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

​ Orange County Register 

Federal appeals judges don’t reveal how they’ll rule on Saudi Arabia’s effort to end 9/11 litigation

• October 7, 2026

By LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — Family members of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks packed a federal appeals courtroom in New York City on Wednesday as three judges heard arguments over whether legal claims against Saudi Arabia can proceed.

The judges revealed through their questions that there are still many legal issues to be decided in the lawsuit even though it has dragged on for almost a quarter-century.

They didn’t say when they might rule on whether claims can proceed to trial alleging that Saudi Arabia provided aid to at least two of the 19 men who hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field that day.

Still, Terry Strada, whose husband Tom Strada was killed in the attacks, said she was encouraged that more than 100 family members of 9/11 victims turned out and by the judges’ questions.

“It really was a good day for us,” she said afterward. “The judges asked really meaningful questions and hammered the Saudi attorneys and didn’t let up. They weren’t buying what the Saudis were selling.”

In lawsuits, hundreds of victims’ relatives and injured survivors, along with insurance companies and businesses, claim that employees of the Saudi government directly and knowingly assisted the hijackers and other plotters and fueled al-Qaida’s development into a terrorist organization by funding charities that supported them.

Some defendants, including Iran, the Taliban and al-Qaida, already have been found in default.

On Wednesday, lawyers from both sides were questioned repeatedly by the appeals judges who seemed unsure exactly how they would respond to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s claims that it should be dismissed as a defendant on sovereign immunity grounds.

Lawyers for Saudi Arabia say the nation and the U.S. were partners in the 1990s against terrorism, al-Qaida and its founder, Osama bin Laden.

Although 15 of the 19 attackers on 9/11 were Saudis, the Saudi government has long denied any involvement in the attacks.

Lawyers for victims’ relatives claim that a group of extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia aided the hijackers.

The appeal by Saudi Arabia stemmed from an August 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels, who decided that the case could proceed in federal court, though he did not rule on the merits of the claims.

​ Orange County Register 

Pope Leo XIV opens status check on Pope Francis’ contentious opening to civilly remarried Catholics

• October 7, 2026

By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday urged Catholic leaders to courageously accompany families in their weaknesses and failures, as he embraced one of Pope Francis’ most contentious teachings about welcoming Catholics in second marriages and otherwise “irregular” unions.

Leo opened a weeklong, closed-door conference assessing the implementation of Francis’ 2016 document “The Joy of Love.” Leo called the text an “important” step in the church’s long tradition of ministering to Catholic families for the sake of passing the faith on to future generations.

The document covers a host of issues relating to how the Catholic Church can better minister to families today as they cope with issues such as poverty, war, LGBTQ+ children and divorce. But when it was released after a yearslong consultation, “The Joy of Love” immediately sparked controversy, because it opened the door to allowing civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

Church teaching holds that unless these Catholics obtain an annulment — a church decree that their first marriage was invalid — they can’t receive the sacraments, since they are seen as living in sin and committing adultery.

Francis didn’t create a church-wide pass for these Catholics, but suggested that bishops and priests could do so on a case-by-case basis after accompanying them on a spiritual journey of discernment.

Leo urges church to accompany people in fragility

In his opening remarks, which reporters were invited to watch, Leo didn’t refer specifically to Francis’ opening to civilly remarried Catholics. Speaking in English, he seemed keen to redirect the conversation to the broader issues facing young people and families today, including how to incorporate sex and intimacy within the Christian “vision” of marriage.

He urged the bishops to pay specific attention to families in their weakest moments, to listen to them, and to look at whether the church is able to respond to them.

“The experience of fragility raises the question of whether we are able to remain close to one another when life no longer corresponds to what had been hoped for, and whether we can recognize the work of grace even in situations marked by limits, wounds and apparent failure,” Leo said.

The pontiff challenged the bishops to consider what kind of church people encounter when they are most fragile.

“Do our communities help them discover that they still have a place, a responsibility and gifts to offer? Can the truth we proclaim be encountered through the patience, closeness and mercy of our pastoral presence?” he asked.

A text prompts claims of heresy

Francis’ 2016 document became one of the most divisive of his pontificate and in many ways became the focal point of conservative opposition to his papacy. Mostly conservative Catholics said that it had sown confusion among the faithful about the church’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

Some even accused Francis of heresy.

Within the first year of publication, four conservative cardinals formally asked Francis to clarify certain questions, or “dubia,” raised by the text. They argued that church doctrine held that Catholics who remarried without a church annulment were living in sin and couldn’t receive the sacraments.

He never replied.

For a variety of reasons, such annulments often can’t be obtained, though Francis issued a separate reform to simplify, facilitate and accelerate the process. The aim was to respond to cases where a spouse wasn’t at fault for the failure of a marriage, such as a woman who experienced abuse at the hands of her first husband and merely wanted to remarry in the church and raise her children in the faith.

Sister Helen Alford, president of the Vatican’s social sciences academy, urged the bishops attending this week’s conference to consider the concept of the “law of gradualness” in applying church law to such difficult family situations. The gradualness concept calls for nuance rather than black-and-white application of rules and norms.

“When social situations are turbulent and changing quickly, it can be necessary to find new ways of putting together both the objective demands of the law and the law of gradualness that many experience,” she said.

Top Francis cardinals, including Americans, among participants

Organizers of the conference insisted that the meeting wasn’t convened to debate or rewrite Francis’ original text, but rather to understand how it had been implemented around the world and what lies ahead. No new document was expected, but a summary text was expected to be released next week wrapping up the points of discussion.

The main participants of the conference were the presidents of 115 national bishops’ conferences from around the world and the heads of eastern rite churches. Joining them were 11 couples, who were to offer their experiences for reflection, as well as theological experts.

Leo also extended 22 personal invitations, including to four of his fellow Americans who were also close advisers to Francis: Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich; Brownsville, Texas Bishop Daniel Flores; Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy and Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin.

Two of Francis’ top Vatican aides, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, also were on Leo’s guest list. Two other close Francis allies, Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich and Spain Cardinal José Cobo Cano, as well as two bishops from China were on his list.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

​ Orange County Register