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Ontario Summer Concert Series

If you don’t want to buy tickets to the real deal, or maybe your favorite band isn’t around anymore, then the lineup of tribute bands at Ontario’s summer concert series is for you. The concerts take place at Ontario Town Square through Thursday, Aug. 8. The upcoming show on Wednesday, July 5 will feature Britain’s Finest, a Beatles tribute band. Then on Thursday, Aug. 10 the series moves over to Celebration Park North with a show by Prizmatic, a Katy Perry tribute band. The series ends at Celebration Park on Thursday, Aug. 31 with Red Hot Tribute, a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band.

When: 5:30 p.m. through Aug. 31

Where: Ontario Town Square, 224 North Euclid Ave. and Celebration Park North, 4980 South Celebration Ave., Ontario

Information: ontarioca.gov

Pomona Concert Band

Patriotic music, Broadway tunes, classical and pop music will make up the lineup of songs for the Pomona Concert Band’s 76th annual Summer Concert Series. Guests are invited to bring picnic baskets and blankets to enjoy the show. On-site concessions will be available for purchase.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 31.

Where: G. Stanton Selby Bandshell in Ganesha Park, 1575 North. White Ave., Pomona

Information: pomonaconcertband.org

Riverside Concerts in the Park

The musical summer continues in Riverside with the city’s annual Concerts in the Park series, which runs Wednesdays through July 26. Guests are encouraged to dance along to Top 40 cover act C4 on July 12; break out the cowboy hat and boots for country singer Brent Payne on July 19; and rock out to the hits with Top 40 cover act The Hodads on July 26.

When: 6-9 p.m. Wednesdays through July 26

Where: Fairmount Park, 2601 Fairmount Blvd., Riverside

Information: riversideca.gov

Seal Beach Summer Concerts

This beach concerts take place on Wednesday evenings at the base of the Seal Beach Pier in Eisenhower Park starting July 5-Aug. 9. It launches with U2 tribute band L.A. Vation on July 5. Other highlights include Doors Tribute band Strange Days on July 26; Country music cover band Redneck Rodeo on Aug. 2; and ’60s, ’70s and ’80s cover band The Emperors on Aug. 9. Seating is first come, first served and guests are allowed to bring picnic items, lawn chairs and blankets.

When: 6-8 p.m. July 5-Aug. 9

Where: Eisenhauer Park, Ocean Ave. and Main Street, Seal Beach

Information: sealbeachchamber.org

Sizzlin’ Summer Concerts

The City of Irvine wants to make summers sizzle with a trio of free concerts at Mike Ward Community Park. The party starts on Saturday, July 22 with the first show featuring Acme Time Machine performing ’50s and ’60s tunes. On Saturday, Aug. 5 the Tijuana Dogs will bring an energetic performance to the stage with Top 40 covers. The series ends Saturday, Aug. 19 with the cool, soulful sounds of DW3.

When: 5:30 p.m. July 22, Aug. 5 and 19.

Where: Mike Ward Community Park, 20 Lake Road, Irvine

Information: cityofirvine.org

Torrance Summer Nights

No matter what kind of musical jams you’re into, chances are the Torrance Summer Nights series will have a band you can rock out to. The series, which also includes movies and other performances, runs through Sunday, Sept. 3 at Wilson Park Amphitheater. The series kicked off in June and the next performance features alt rockers Manuel the Band on Sunday, July 2. Other highlights include the Big Butter Jazz Band on Saturday, July 15; Andy & Renee a Bob Dylan tribute on Saturday, Aug. 12; and the series wraps up with Petty Theft, a Tom Petty tribute on Sept. 3.

When: Various times and dates through Sept. 3

Where: Wilson Park Amphitheater, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

Information: arts.torranceca.gov

Orange County Register

Tom Rachman’s novel ‘The Imposters’ peers inside an aging writer’s mind

June 27, 2023

In the opening pages of Tom Rachman’s “The Imposters,” we meet an aging British couple, Dora and Barry—she’s a novelist with a small and diminishing audience, he’s a divorce lawyer turned couples therapist. Their scenes are emotionally nuanced and grounded until the moment Dora is waiting for Barry to come downstairs.

“Nobody comes downstairs. Nobody is upstairs, or anywhere else in this house,” Rachman writes. “Only Dora, pondering a fictional character, this husband Barry, based on someone she met in passing once, and written into a story that isn’t quite working, as none of her stories quite work anymore.”

Rachman enjoys gently tugging the rug underneath the readers throughout his book as Dora faces her cognitive decline and tries to finish one last novel before taking her life. In between hearing directly from Dora in her diaries, we read lightly connected chapters that read as short stories about people from Dora’s lives, from her daughter to a deliveryman.

Dora is not reporting truthfully but conjuring up new worlds and relationships for these people as she grows increasingly isolated, particularly as Covid sends the world into lockdown.

Some of her stories are comedic, like the story of Danny, another struggling novelist who makes one faux pas after another at a literary festival, while others are deadly serious, like the story of Amir, who tries returning home to Syria for his father’s funeral only to be detained and tortured. We eventually get glimpses of the “real” people beyond these imposters.

This is the fourth novel by Rachman, and it hits stores June 27. His first, “The Imperfectionists,” centered on newspaper journalists and was a best seller. All of his books, which include “The Rise & Fall of Great Powers” and “The Italian Teacher,” earned critical acclaim and share some thematic similarities.

“It isn’t conscious, but I’ve noticed that I keep writing about the culture, both in terms of the arts and in terms of political culture,” Rachman said in a recent video interview from his home in England. “I was a journalist for a long time, so I feel quite connected to the political world and the history that’s breaking around us. I also have a professional and personal interest in what’s happening to the arts.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Your characters often feel isolated, even, or especially, from their families. That’s especially true of Dora.

The loneliness of the characters pushes through all these books. Many are desperately yearning for human connection and sometimes they’re woefully disappointed with what they’ve found in their family. Like Dora, they’re looking out the window at other lives.

I felt that had a resonance during the pandemic, which is when I was writing. A writer—Dora, or me— spends all this time looking at a screen and imagining people and the larger world and then bringing them to life on that screen. You’re in isolation but surrounding yourself with humanity. You can see everything going on all at once online but you also feel like you’re missing out. Covid seemed like a strange echo of this life.

Q. Do you feel isolated when you’re writing?

I can never tell if writing is a pathetic attempt by me to escape or if it’s an enrichment of life. When I’m doing it, it feels blissful, being lost in my imagination, conjuring things, taking aesthetic pleasure in trying to piece it all together. But I also do it to escape the world sometimes. In terrible periods of my life, I’d disappear into the story.

Q. One character says, “That’s the real midlife crisis: You’re irrelevant.” Do you worry about that for you and for novelists in general?

The question of relevance is at the heart of this book. In our society, it feels increasingly like literature is in a marginal place and that’s saddening to me. When I was young, I dreamed of accessing the literary world. Now that world is smaller and less pertinent. The age when a novelist could have imagined being on the cover of Time magazine is now as unimaginable as actually reading Time magazine.

Separately, I’m constantly thinking, maybe it’s just me. People might roll their eyes and say, “Novels aren’t dead, just your perspective.” I’m open to that possibility. Either way, it’s not good news.

Q. This novel feels darker than your others. Was it the pandemic, existential issues like the climate crisis and democracies faltering, or things going on in your life that fed this mood?

It’s all the things you just said. The book has humor all the way through but this does feel like a world in jeopardy — the absolute chaos that climate change is bringing, the extremist politics shredding democracy, which is making people lose faith in the system and human beings, and also the elements of technology that arrive as marvels but transform our lives in ways that aren’t marvelous. It feels like things are out of our control now.

And I was writing when the pandemic hit. It also speaks of a darker time in my life. I was having a hard time and struggling to write and all that came out in the book.

Q. What motivates Dora as she works without a publishing deal and while fretting about her cognitive decline?

It seems like she’s trying to recall and recount her life but then you realize it’s more of a way to correct or amend it — not necessarily better it in every case but to try and revise reality. Dora is trying to create the life she wanted. Writers are often looking for characters on the page that accord with the world they’d like or the world they understand.

She longs for that fictional Barry to live with her but knows she couldn’t have lasted two weeks with him. She’s looking back and wondering if she got it all wrong and whether she could have done things differently or if that’s just who she is.

Q. As Dora creates characters based on real people, were you trying to get us thinking about how novelists utilize real people in their books?

It is a playful way to mess around with that. There’s an odd interplay between what’s real and what the writer creates.

With my first book, people kept saying, “You based this character on so-and-so” with absolute certainty. But what happens is I take tiny little details that are true — like the way someone holds their pencil — but then the character takes on a separate life. When I first started out, if I’d get stuck I’d base a character on somebody I know, but those characters were always terrible. They never came to life.

Q. In one lighter moment, Danny says to Dora, “I might be one of your characters” to which she retorts, “Oh, you are. Are you only realizing that now?” That felt pretty meta.

I enjoy playing with that ambiguity — it’s meant to make the reader pause and wonder, but I didn’t do too much of that because it separates the concept from the story. You want the reader to be in the story and only occasionally to think from a different angle. If you just are pointing out the artifice, it can become an ironic display that’s irritating to read.

Q. Are you often thinking about people as potential characters?

There’s often a dissonance between the superficial thin version of people you encounter during the course of your day and the certainty that there’s a huge amount more in everyone’s lives, whether it’s your bank teller or bus driver. Writers are curious about other people’s lives, about getting into their rooms, their thoughts and their hearts.

Orange County Register

3 Camp Pendleton Marines among 4 people killed in weekend crash on the 5 Freeway in Downey

June 27, 2023

Three of the four people killed in a single-vehicle crash on the southbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Downey were Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton, authorities said Monday.

All four were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash that occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday north of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Two of the deceased Marines were assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force. The third Marine was assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, according to First Lt. Sean Waterman at Camp Pendleton.

On Monday, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office identified three of the individuals killed as Daniel Nichols, 26, Joshua Moore Jr., 27, and Rodrigo Zermeno Gomez, 21. The name of the fourth victim was withheld, pending notification of relatives.

It was not immediately announced which of the victims identified were Marines.

Authorities believe the crash occurred after the driver of a Dodge Challenger lost control of their vehicle for an unknown reason and hit a guard rail on the side of the freeway before slamming into the wall beneath the Lemoran Avenue pedestrian bridge, according to KCAL.

The force of the collision “caused the vehicle to split in two, subsequently ejecting the two rear passengers onto the right shoulder,” said a statement from the California Highway Patrol.

KCAL reported all were ejected during the crash.

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Orange County Register

Angels beat White Sox when Mike Trout scores on wild pitch in 9th

June 27, 2023

Shohei Ohtani, center, and the Angels celebrate after Mike Trout scored the winning run on a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, not pictured, during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Angels star Shohei Ohtani watches the flight of his 446-foot home run during the fourth inning of their game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers throws to the plate during the fourth inning of their game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, center, talks with third base coach Bill Haselman, right, and teammate Mike Trout at third base during a Chicago White Sox pitching change in the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. Trout eventually scored the winning run on a wild pitch. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Angels star Mike Trout dives for home plate to score the game-winning run after a wild pitch by Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, right, during the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. The Angels won, 2-1. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Angels’ Mike Trout, right, scores the winning run on a wild pitch by Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, left, as the Angels’ Mike Moustakas looks on during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Angels star Mike Trout celebrates with teammate Mike Moustakas, left, after scoring the winning run on a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, right, during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Angels’ Mike Trout, left, celebrates with teammate Mickey Moniak after scoring the winning run on a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, not pictured, during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The Angels celebrate after Mike Trout scored the winning run on a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, not pictured, during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Angels’ Mike Trout, center, celebrates with teammates and coaches after scoring the winning run on a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, not pictured, during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, center, and his teammates celebrate after Mike Trout scored the winning run on a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, not pictured, during the ninth inning on Monday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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ANAHEIM — Mike Trout, who has struggled at the plate this season more than any other year of his career, stepped up after striking out in all three of his previous trips on Monday night, looking for anything to turn around the game for him and the Angels.

He was still able to produce a run, first by drawing a walk, then by stealing third base. Trout then scrambled home with the winning run on a wild pitch in the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

“I was grinding the first three at-bats,” Trout said, “but I had a good at-bat in the ninth, got on base. I haven’t been running, but I tried to take a chance to help the team. It was a good opportunity to make something happen.”

After Trout walked, he went to second on a Shohei Ohtani walk. Then they both moved up on steals, just the second of the season for Trout. With one out and Mike Moustakas at the plate, Aaron Bummer threw a pitch past catcher Yasmani Grandal, and Trout came home with a head-first slide to end the pitchers’ duel.

The Angels’ other run was on Ohtani’s major league-leading 26th homer, a 446-foot shot in the fourth inning.

“My two best stepped up today,” Manager Phil Nevin said of Trout and Ohtani. “Usually you win those.”

The Angels needed to win one after losing four of five games last week, including two of three against the last-place Colorado Rockies.

This decisive run came too late for starter Reid Detmers to get the victory he deserved after he allowed one run in seven innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.05 in his last four starts.

Detmers struck out 10, making him the third pitcher in Angels history to have four straight starts allowing one run or fewer with eight strikeouts or more. Ohtani and Nolan Ryan, who did it twice, are the others.

“Just commanding the zone,” Detmers said of his recent improvement. “I think that’s been huge. Throwing everything in the zone and then expanding when I need to.”

The streak has helped Detmers cut his season ERA to 3.77, which is exactly what it was during his breakout rookie season in 2022.

Many figured Detmers would be even better this season, in part because he had added velocity to his best pitch, his slider. Lately, though, Detmers has been throwing his slider with less velocity at times, which he said gives the hitters more of a mix to keep them off balance.

Nevin compared it to Ohtani, who can throw the same pitch in a variety of ways to confuse hitters.

“I think (Detmers) watches the guy who pitches after him (Ohtani) and he’s understanding manipulating the ball and throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters and using your defense,” Nevin said. “I know he had 10 punchouts today. He’s able to get strikeouts. But he’s also able to get a lot of soft contact with changing speeds and changing shapes on his pitches. He’s really starting to understand what pitching is all about. When you have the kind of stuff he has and that comes together, usually good things happen.”

On Monday night Detmers gave up a homer to Luis Robert Jr. in the first inning, but he retired everyone else in the first four innings. In the fifth, he gave up a leadoff single and then a walk, but he responded with three straight strikeouts.

Detmers pitched a perfect sixth and then worked around a one-out walk to get through the seventh with 105 pitches.

Jacob Webb pitched a perfect eighth and then closer Carlos Estévez got through the ninth with the help of a double play, setting up the Angels for the winning rally in the bottom of the inning.

The victory moved the Angels (43-37) back to six games over .500 with one game to go before the midpoint of the season. They’ve had encouraging stretches and frustrating ones, but starting pitching like what Detmers has provided certainly gives them a chance at more winning baseball in the second half.

“We’ve got a good squad, obviously,” Detmers said. “It doesn’t always show, but that’s baseball. Just gotta keep our heads down and keep going. There’s not a whole lot to it.”

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Angels’ Mike Moustakas happy to join a contender

ANGELS WIN@Angels | #GoHalos | #LTBU pic.twitter.com/m74kOmHmL8

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) June 27, 2023

Trout sounds off on the walk-off W! @EricaLWeston | @Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/h8M7UUkHGJ

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) June 27, 2023

Reid Detmers joins Shohei Ohtani (2022) and Nolan Ryan (2x) as the only Angels in franchise history with 1 or fewer ER and 8+ K in 4 consecutive pitching appearances. pic.twitter.com/qSHtxwlbnv

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 27, 2023

26 home runs
62 RBI
1.010 OPS

Shohei Ohtani leads all of baseball in each category. pic.twitter.com/7mDTv2aFhB

— MLB (@MLB) June 27, 2023

Orange County Register

NHL awards: Kings captain Anze Kopitar wins Lady Byng Trophy

June 27, 2023

Anze Kopitar, the Kings’ captain and longest-tenured player, won the NHL’s Lady Byng Trophy on Monday, awarded to the most sportsmanlike and gentlemanly player who combined his exemplary conduct with excellent performance as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

He previously won the award following the 2015-16 season, when he also earned the first of his two Frank J. Selke trophies, awarded to the NHL’s most outstanding defensive forward. Kopitar missed the cut as a finalist for that award this year, which was won handily by the Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron for a record sixth time.

Kopitar is the fourth King to garner the Lady Byng and joined Wayne Gretzky as the franchise’s only multiple-time honoree. He is the first two-time winner since then-Tampa Bay Lightning winger Martin St. Louis captured consecutive trophies in 2010 and 2011.

Entering the final season of his contract, Kopitar, 35, has shown few signs of falling off at an age when most players generally settle into a reduced role. Last season he led the Kings in scoring, something he’s done in all but two seasons during his career, and was their top faceoff option as well. Combined with his physical strength, defensive acumen and calming presence, Kopitar was on the ice in virtually every key situation. Nevertheless, he accumulated just four penalty minutes, a practically impeccable total for a player who logs first-line minutes.

On a day when Kopitar added to his burgeoning trophy case, the focus was largely on trade rumors about the Kings and another center, Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Winnipeg Jets. Though no deal was final, the crescendo of rumors and speculation grew louder ahead of the opening of free agency later this week.

Ever magnanimous, Kopitar first mentioned the other finalists, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point and the New Jersey Devils’ Nico Hischier.

“First and foremost, congratulations to Jack and Brayden for being nominated. It was very well-deserved and I’m sure you guys will win a bunch of these in the future,” Kopitar said during his acceptance speech.

“Thank you to (Kings owners) Mr. and Mrs. Anschutz, their commitment to our team is astronomical and they always try to make us better. The organization, from top to bottom, starting with (team president) Luc (Robitaille) and (General Manager) Rob (Blake), and the coaches, the staff that put in the work every day. This also cannot happen without my teammates, I love you guys, and thank you for all of your support.”

OTHER AWARDS

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid won his third Hart Trophy as NHL MVP on Monday night in Nashville, Tenn., falling one vote short of unanimous selection after the highest-scoring season by a player in more than a quarter-century.

McDavid also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by his peers. The Oilers’ captain led the league with 64 goals, 89 assists and 153 points. That’s the most points since Mario Lemieux had 161 in 1995-96.

McDavid previously won the Hart in 2017 and 2021 and the Lindsay in 2017, 2018 and 2021. Universally recognized as the best hockey player in the world, McDavid is still searching for his first Stanley Cup title after Edmonton lost in the second round of the playoffs to eventual champion Vegas.

“Certainly it’s not lost on me what these trophies mean in the grand scheme of our game,” McDavid said. “To do it a number of times, it means a lot to me. Obviously, it’s not the motivating factor, but it’s special still.”

One voter out of 196 picked Boston’s David Pastrnak as MVP. The Bruins had a big night at the league’s awards ceremony after setting the record for the most wins and points in a regular season, records made possible in part by rule changes.

This year was a rare instance in which most of the major award winners were obvious before the end of the regular season.

San Jose’s Erik Karlsson also became a three-time award winner, receiving the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman – his first such honor since 2015. Karlsson at age 32 was the first defenseman to surpass 100 points in a season since Brian Leetch in 1992.

“I still feel like I had a fantastic year and I felt good the whole way, but I feel like there’s more,” said Karlsson, who has expressed interest in being moved to a team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. “That’s what makes me excited moving forward.”

The Bruins had three award winners: goaltender Linus Ullmark, Bergeron and Coach Jim Montgomery.

The Vezina Trophy as top goalie and Jack Adams Award as coach of the year were each a first for Ullmark and Montgomery. Ullmark led the league with a 1.89 goals-against average and .938 save percentage and was tied for the most wins with 40 – getting them in just 48 starts.

“You want to be the best at your position or even the best player, which is very tough when you have guys like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby playing against you, that’s a tough one,” Ullmark said. “Still, you have that goal.”

Montgomery coached Boston to 65 wins in his first season with the team, and he thanked those who supported him through a low point in his career.

“Three and a half years ago, the Dallas Stars terminated my contract because of my struggles with alcohol, and I had to change my actions and behaviors,” Montgomery said. “For those who struggle out there, you can change, you can affect change within yourself, and it doesn’t happen alone. You need a team.”

At age 37, Selke winner Bergeron led the league in faceoff wins and percentage and was only on the ice for 27 goals against at even strength in 78 games.

Seattle’s Matty Beniers won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Beniers led all rookies with 57 points and was tied for the lead among them in goals with 24, helping the Kraken make the playoffs in their second year of existence.

“I think I was pretty fortunate this year production-wise,” Beniers said. “Every year is not going to be like that, I know that, but it was definitely a good start. I was obviously really happy and thankful for the year.”

Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos won the Mark Messier Leadership Award, and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang – who had a stroke on Nov. 28 but returned to play 12 days later – won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association vote for the Hart, Norris, Selke, Calder, Masterson and Lady Byng. NHL GMs determine the Vezina, while members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association pick the Jack Adams.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Kings trade Cal Petersen, Sean Walker in 3-way deal

Orange County Register

Body cameras explored for LA County jail deputies to combat inmate abuse

June 27, 2023

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials are exploring the use of body cameras in the jails in response to complaints of excessive force on inmates.

Attorney Robert Dugdale, representing the Sheriff’s Department, told U.S. District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson on Monday, June 26, that the cameras could help the department comply with a 2014 settlement of a federal lawsuit, but it might take six months to get deputies outfitted with them.

Pregerson called the body cameras an “excellent tool,” but said the time frame should be moved up.

Additionally, Dugdale added that the department plans to establish an eight-sergeant committee to review use-of-force incidents, taking the matter out of the hands of direct supervisors whose relationship with their deputies might cloud their objectivity.

“These are all game-changing ways in which the department is going to change accountability in the department,” Dugdale told the court. “Things have improved dramatically in the jail.”

Dugdale said Sheriff Robert Luna fully supports the proposed changes. “He is interested in doing things the right way and following the law,” he said.

However, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Peter Eliasberg continued to press the judge for a court order banning deputies from striking inmates in the head except for in rare instances when deadly force is needed. The current policy allows head strikes when inmates appear “assaultive” and threaten deputies with “serious” bodily injury. Pregerson noted that the words “assaultive” and “serious” were too subjective.

Declarations from medical professionals presented by Eliasberg showed that striking an inmate in the head could cause brain hemorrhaging, eye injuries and facial fractures.

Eliasberg also asked that the Sheriff’s Department adopt a “zero-tolerance” policy for deputies who lie about using excessive force on inmates or fail to report it and supervisors who turn a blind eye to the abuses.

Lastly, Eliasberg sought controls over the deputies’ use of a restraining device called the WRAP, which encircles the inmates’ legs and connects to a chest harness. Doctors say the device can put the inmate in a physical position that restricts breathing and lead to positional asphyxiation.

Eliasberg argued that after negotiating with sheriff after sheriff, the court order is needed to bring the department into compliance.

“That’s how you get a culture change, not by saying things will get better because Sheriff Luna is in charge,” he told the court.

But Pregerson ordered the two sides back to the negotiating table, with a scheduled return in 60 days.

Pregerson’s order seemed to be buoyed by a recent settlement between the ACLU and the Sheriff’s Department in another lawsuit over inhumane and unclean conditions at the intake center in the Twin Towers facility in downtown Los Angeles. Pregerson said Monday the agreement in that case, involving the same attorneys, gave him hope.

The head-strike issue is a remaining point of contention in the lawsuit brought by Alex Rosas, which sought to end what the ACLU called a pattern of inmate beatings by deputies at the Men’s Central Jail, Twin Towers Correctional Facility and the Inmate Reception Center, all operated by the Sheriff’s Department, comprising the largest jail system in the world.

Eliasberg, in an interview after the hearing, said the sheriff’s department for nine years has failed to entirely abide by the settlement. The department concedes that it is about 80 percent in compliance.

“There’s been a lot of issues over the years and it’s time for the department to grapple with that, it’s time to get this stuff right, people’s lives are at stake,” Eliasberg said.

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ACLU seeks ban on head strikes by deputies in LA County jails

Orange County Register

6 sports heroes join the California Sports Hall of Fame

June 27, 2023

Six sports legends were inducted to the California Sports Hall of Fame for their accomplishments on and off the field.

On Sunday, June 25, the Ontario Convention Center hosted a reception and dinner to celebrate the inductee class of 2023.

Inductees included former UCLA football coach Terry Donahue, who was honored posthumously, former Los Angeles Laker and Clipper Norm Nixon, former UCLA and NFL standout Kenny Easley Jr., former Major League Baseball pitcher and team executive Dave Stewart, former soccer star and World Cup team member Alexi Lalas, and retired Southern California TV reporter Rick Lozano.

“These inductees were chosen not only for their outstanding performance in their respective fields, but also for the impact they have had in their communities,” Christian Okoye, president of the California Sports Hall of Fame and former Kansas City Chiefs running back, said in a news release.

Sports |

Film academy welcomes new members to its Board of Governors, which is now 53% female

Sports |

Golden Globes get new owners who will dissolve Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Orange County Register

State Supreme Court ruling opens door for more police accountability, liability

June 27, 2023

Civil rights attorneys across Southern California on Monday, June 26, applauded a state Supreme Court decision holding police more accountable for alleged misconduct, while law enforcement officials said it will undoubtedly result in more lawsuits challenging police actions.

“It sounds like it’s going to increase liability for us, and it may have some implications for our training programs,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said in an interview. “We may need to revise training protocols to ensure that our officers are equipped with the knowledge and skills that they need that minimizes the risk of liability.”

Gonzalez said his department will continue to work closely with its legal counsel and community stakeholders in developing new policies and procedures, while also protecting the rights of his officers.

Supreme Court ruling

On Thursday, June 22, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected an argument by Riverside County that its sheriff’s deputies could not be sued for leaving a man’s naked body lying in plain sight for eight hours while officers investigated his killing.

Riverside County maintained that a provision of the Government Claims Act — Section 821.6 — immunizes public employees from claims of injury caused by wrongful prosecution. While that may be true, the state’s high court ruled that that immunity did not extend to law enforcement investigations.

“While other provisions of the Government Claims Act may confer immunity for certain investigatory actions, it does not broadly immunize police officers or other public employees for any and all harmful actions they may take in the course of investigating crime,” Associate Justice Leondra Kruger wrote in the ruling.

Yaoska Machado, a spokesperson for Riverside County, said in an email on Monday, “We’re reviewing the Supreme Court decision to determine our next steps in the court process.”

Murder-suicide case

The case stemmed from an apparent murder-suicide at the Royal Coach Mobile Home Park in Cherry Valley on March 25, 2017. Riverside County sheriff’s deputies responded with a SWAT team to an assault with a deadly weapon call at the park, where they found Jose Leon, 46, lying in the road, dead from gunshot wounds.

Deputies heard additional gunshots coming from a nearby home, where they found John Malicek, 67, dead inside the residence, also from gunshot wounds, according to a sheriff’s news release.

Leon’s widow, Dora Leon, filed a lawsuit alleging negligence and infliction of emotional distress, claiming deputies dragged her husband’s body behind a police vehicle, and in the process his pants were pulled down, exposing his genitals. His body was left like that, in public view, for about eight hours while deputies investigated.

Lower courts dismissed the case, ruling that state law provides immunity to law enforcement officers and agencies for police conduct during investigations. But in its ruling last week, the Supreme Court reinstated Dora Leon’s lawsuit. Kruger wrote that the lower court decisions were wrong, saying police investigations cannot be interpreted as part of the prosecution process.

In a telephone interview Monday, Mission Viejo attorney James Alquist, representing Dora Leon, said, “As you can imagine, we’re happy because the decision came down in our favor, and it appears to be significant.”

But Alquist declined to comment further because of the ongoing litigation. “The case has to run its course, and we don’t want to get in the way of anything that might unfold by weighing in with our opinion,” he said.

Attorneys weigh in

Civil rights attorneys, however, praised the decision.

Dale Galipo, a Woodland Hills civil rights attorney who has represented clients in hundreds of police misconduct cases in Southern California for more than two decades, said the Supreme Court’s decision was a “step in the right direction” because it holds police more accountable. And as a result, he said, the courts will be potentially less inclined to grant them immunity for misconduct.

“So, less protection for officers and more accountability and rights to civilians and citizens,” Galipo said. “Officers are going to have to realize that if they act inappropriately at the scene of an incident … they could be held accountable, and so can their departments.”

He predicted the ruling will likely translate into a spike in civil filings in both state and federal courts.

“It will also increase the scope of the lawsuits so that in addition to excessive force and traditional claims, there’s going to be claims of other inappropriate conduct during investigations,” Galipo said.

In a joint statement Monday, Victorville criminal defense attorneys Jim Terrell and Sharon Brunner, who also specialize in civil litigation involving alleged police misconduct, said that prior to the Supreme Court’s precedent-setting decision, the Government Claims Act was overly broad, essentially granting police carte blanche in investigations.

“We believe that Supreme Court decision will allow injured parties to seek redress by parties harmed by the police. Carte blanche for police has ended,” Terrell and Brunner said in the statement, calling the statute itself “Draconian.”

“It is amazing such a statue could even exist in our modern times,” Terrell and Brunner said in their statement. “The language in 821.6 states the employee isn’t liable ‘even if he acts maliciously and without probable cause.’ “

They agreed that the high court decision also will require additional training of police and adjusting policies that ignored abuses in investigations.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said he expects to see an increase in lawsuits in Superior Court as a result of the Supreme Court ruling, but predicted there won’t be much of an impact at the prosecution level.

“But it will for law enforcement,” Anderson said. “This will be something they assess and have training on.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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