Once hailed as a drought fix, California moves to restrict synthetic turf over health concerns

• October 18, 2023

By Shreya Agrawal | CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom last week passed on a chance to limit the use of the so-called “forever chemicals” in legions of plastic products when he vetoed a bill that would have banned them in synthetic lawns.

His veto of an environmental bill that overwhelmingly passed the Legislature underscores California’s convoluted guidance on the plastic turf that some homeowners, schools and businesses use in place of grass in a state accustomed to drought.

Less than a decade ago then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law prohibiting cities and counties from banning synthetic grass. At the time, the state was in the middle of a crippling drought, and fake lawns were thought to be helpful in saving water.

Also see: Are artificial-turf fields unsafe for athletes?

But this year Democrats in the Legislature went in a different direction, proposing bills that would discourage synthetic turf. They’re worried about health risks created by the chemicals present in these lawns, including perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS chemicals.

Some chemicals in the crumb rubber base of synthetic turf, such as bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, can leach out during extreme heat. These chemicals have been linked to various chronic diseases including cancers, diabetes and neurological impairments.

Also see: Artificial turf saves water, but is it safe?

Dianne Woelke, a retired nurse in San Diego, is among the Californians who’ve grown concerned about their neighbors’ synthetic lawns. She joined a group called Safe Healthy Playing Fields to advocate against their use.

“It’s staggering the depth of minutia involved in this product. It’s just a lot of plastic with a lot of chemicals leaching from it,” Woelke said.

One of the bills Newsom signed, for instance, undoes the Brown-era law and allows cities and counties to again ban artificial turf. Some California cities have already begun moving to prohibit fake lawns, including Millbrae in San Mateo County and San Marino in Los Angeles County.

“Emerging research is making it clear that artificial turf poses an environmental threat due to its lack of recyclability and presence of toxins such as lead and PFAS,” said state Sen. Ben Allen, the Redondo Beach Democrat who authored the bill. With the new law “local governments will again be able to regulate artificial turf in a way to both protect our environment in the face of drought and climate change but also by preventing further contribution to our recycling challenges and toxic runoff,” he said.

Manufacturers of synthetic turf say they are working to address concerns about the materials they use, although for the most part they have been unable to entirely remove PFAS. Some have switched to sand and other safer products in an attempt to replace rubber crumb.

“Our members are already working with existing customers, states, and local governments to demonstrate the continued safety of our products and are committed to ensuring their products contain no intentionally added PFAS,” Melanie Taylor, president of the Synthetic Turf Council, wrote in a statement to CalMatters.

Newsom in vetoing the PFAS chemicals bill wrote that he “strongly” supports the intent of the legislation, but he was concerned that the state was not positioned to ensure its effectiveness.

The bill “does not identify or require any regulatory agency to determine compliance with, or enforce, the proposed statute,” he wrote in his veto message.

He also wrote that he’s directing his administration to consult with lawmakers on “alternative approaches to regulating the use of these harmful chemicals in consumer products,” suggesting the issue could return in the next legislative year.

Chemical risks from fake lawns

Synthetic turf is a man-made, non-living replacement of turfgrass that requires no water or maintenance. The grass blades are made of fibers such as nylon or plastic while the base is typically a crumb rubber made from used tires, plastic pellets or sand.

Synthetic grass usually contains PFAS chemicals. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS chemicals are a known carcinogen which can interfere with hormones, reproduction, immunity and cause developmental delays in children.

Adam Smith, an associate professor of environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, said although research is still being done to understand fully what the health implications of the chemical are, current research suggests that “PFAS is absolutely bad for human health.”

“Certainly, in terms of the drought, (synthetic turf) seems great, but there’s all of these downsides,” Smith said.

According to experts, these chemicals can enter the human body through contact with skin, by breathing the particles in or through water sources, especially groundwater sources, that can get contaminated during leaching.

Microplastics from the grass blades and crumb rubber can also leach into groundwater and freshwater bodies.

“These molecules are actually entering the food chains in the ocean, and they’re in our system, they’re in our blood, they’re in our muscles,” said Sylvia Earle, a marine life advocate and former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We’ve changed the nature of nature through actions that we’ve taken. Now they are coming back to haunt us.”

At what temperatures is it a risk?

Research by the National Toxicology Program shows that high heat can cause chemicals to leach out of the crumb rubber base of synthetic turf, which is made of recycled tires. These leached chemicals are known to cause cell death in humans.

Synthetic turf, like other artificial surfaces including asphalt and pavement, heats up by several degrees more than living lawns.

According to Kelly Turner, associate director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation’s Heat Equity Initiative, the material can trap heat and radiate it back slowly, staying warm for longer periods of time.

“It is one of the hottest surface materials,” she said. “It is hotter than asphalt.”

Janet Hartin, horticulture expert at UC Extension in Los Angeles County, measured various types of surfaces in Palm Springs, where air temperatures around 100˚F are common during the summer.

On days around 100˚F or more, she reported temperatures of synthetic turf and other artificial substances around 175˚F.

Alternative approaches

Hartin said the best alternative to any artificial surfaces are living plants.

“We want to increase the population of our habitat pollinators, and plant climate-resilient plants that provide shade, buffer sun exposure, provide windbreaks, help reduce stormwater runoff and reduce soil and water erosion. And you can’t do that with synthetic grass,” she said.

There are several drought-friendly approaches to landscaping, including warm-season grasses such as Bermuda grass and Buffalo grass, or doing away with grass altogether and planting trees or drought-resilient varieties of plants that are endemic to California.

Hartin said that even though plants require water and maintenance, their cooling benefits and ecosystem benefits go far beyond the water savings one could get through synthetic turf.

“You have choices,” she said. “What we plant today is going to maximize society and urban ecosystem benefits by the time that you’re in your later years.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

​ Orange County Register 

How Southern California casinos are celebrating Halloween

• October 18, 2023

Halloween can be associated with classic concoctions ranging from wicked witches’ potions to the creepy creations of mad scientists like Doctor Frankenstein. Still, this year’s Halloween cocktails at Southern California casinos could easily be among the most frightful.

Harrah’s Resort Southern California mixologists Tiffany Ten-Napel, Alexa Arenz and Grace Skarra, casino operations manager of beverage and slots, worked together to craft this year’s spooky cocktails at the Valley Center property.

The effort resulted in three Halloween cocktail specials, including the Nightmare on Bourbon Street, La Bruja and the Forbidden Potion. The cocktails include candy eyeballs, a black salted rim and a vile of mystery liquid that changes the drink’s color. Although these specialty drinks aren’t brewed over a cauldron, altar or made with any sacrificial elements, they are still shrouded in the eeriness and style that reminds adults that Halloween is just as much their holiday as it is for the kids.

“For Halloween, we like to have our little menu because all of us here are huge Halloween fanatics,” Skarra said. “We’re all infatuated with Halloween and love taking it to the next level.”

Among this year’s spooky cocktails at Southern California casinos, other activities will include costume contests, live music, and Halloween bites and game promotions. Here are the casinos that are celebrating Halloween this year. Be sure to check the dates of the events, promotions and specials as they vary.

Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City

68960 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City. 800.514.3849. aguacalientecasinos.com.

Halloween Bash: The Halloween party returns at the Agave Caliente Terraza with live music from the LA Allstars on Saturday, Oct. 28. In addition, the casino will host a costume contest where winners can receive up to $1,000. Registration for the costume contest is from 7-9 p.m. The winners will be announced at 9:30 p.m., and another round of free play winners will be announced at 10 p.m. To be eligible to win, participants must be present and ACE Club members. The 21-and-older event runs from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and is free for ACE club members or $10.

Food and Drinks: Food specials at 360 Sports include Shrimp Diablo Tacos or Vampiro Birria Tacos ($18) along with Tito’s Spicy Bloody Mary, Blood Orange Sangria ($7 each) and red beer ($5). Available all day on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs

401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs. 888-999-1995. aguacalientecasinos.com.

Food and Drinks: Halloween specials on the casino floor feature Halloween Candy Old Fashioned and Purple Poison cocktails ($10 each) and festive caramel apples ($5) at Java Caliente Café. Available all day on Oct. 31.

Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage

32-250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage. 888-999-1995. aguacalientecasinos.com.

Food and Drinks Specials: At 360 Sports, guests can purchase Halloween-themed hot wings ($19-$37) and the Wicked Rye ($8) on the casino floor. The Pívat Cigar Lounge will also offer draft beers for $4 when guests purchase a cigar. All day on Oct. 31.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino

84-245 Indio Springs Parkway Indio. 800-827-2946. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Drinks Specials: Fantasy Springs Resort Casino will serve a Black Widow cocktail with Gray Goose Vodka, pineapple juice, cranberry juice and blue curacao for $12.  It will be served at POM, JOY, Springs Bar, LIT Lounge and Twelve now through Halloween.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: The chocolate shop will serve Halloween-inspired treats and feature several spooky chocolate-covered apples, including the Frankenstein Apple, made with a green apple dipped in green confection, candy corn buttons, and candy eyes.

Spooky Slots: Guests who earn 40 points in casino credits on Oct. 31, can enter a slot tournament to compete for their share of $5,000 in free play. Players can enter up to two times in the tournament as long as they earn 80 points on Halloween. The tournament runs from 4- 9 p.m. and is only open to those 21-and-older.

Harrah’s Resort Southern California

777 Harrah’s Rincon Way, Valley Center. 760-751-3100. harrahssocal.com.

Drink Specials: The Valley Center casino will serve spooky cocktails through October. Drinks include the Nightmare on Bourbon Street made with a Garrison Brothers bourbon whiskey, apple cider, garnish cinnamon, whistle pig maple syrup all served in an Old Fashioned Cup ($17), a Forbidden Potion made with Belvedere, pineapple juice, blue Curacao, garnished with a mystery “poison “ test tube consisting of capsulated charcoal infused with a sour apple shot) all served in a Martini Cup ($17), and La Bruja made with 818 Blanco tequila, agave syrup, pomegranate juice, and lime juice, with a black salt rim, garnished with a lime and candy eyeball ($14).

Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa

49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon. 951-849-3080. morongocasinoresort.com.

Social Media Costume Contest: The casino will host a Halloween costume photo contest on its social media, where a winner will receive a one-night stay and dinner for two at the Good Times Café. Participants can post their Halloween costume image, use the hashtag #MORONGOHALLOWEEN and tag @MorongoCasinoResort to enter to win from Oct. 25-29 and rally their votes from Oct. 25-31. A winner will be drawn from the top 10 most liked posts and announced on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Participants need to tag a friend, like, and save the Halloween costume contest post on the casino’s Instagram bio.

Casino Morongo Bingo and Costume Contest: Located next door to Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, the property will host a bingo night of 30 Games with a $1,000 prize each. In addition, a costume contest will award $500 to each contestant who dresses as the best Jack and Sally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” film. $500 will also be awarded to the guest with the scariest costume. Doors open at 3 p.m., and the first bingo game starts at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28.

Drink Specials: Spooky cocktails through Halloween include an Autumn Punch with vodka, pineapple juice, spiced rum, and grenadine, served over ice and garnished with a cherry ($9.50) and a Zombie Shot with vodka, lemon juice, melon liquor and a splash of Starry ($9.50).

Pala Casino Spa and Resort

11154 Highway 76, Pala. 877-946-7252. palacasino.com.

Mummy Point Multiplier: On Friday, Oct. 27, the casino will allow privileges card members who use their card in any video reel slot machine to earn 2x points from 6-7:59 p.m., 3x points 8 p.m.-9:59 p.m. and 4x points 10-11:59 p.m. This promotion excludes table games, keno, video poker and e-table games.

Pechanga Resort Casino

45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula. 877-711-2946. pechanga.com.

Halloween Bash at Kelsey’s: On Saturday, Oct. 28, the Temecula property will host a party at Kelsey’s featuring a live DJ and a costume contest that will award up to $1,000 in gift cards and prizes. Tickets for the contest are $20 on the casino’s website and $25 at the door. No mask, heavy face paint, real or simulated weapons, simulated live nudity or body paint allowed. Guests must be 21-or-older to enter.

Drink Specials: Through Halloween, the casino bars will serve the Poisoned Appletini, made with simple syrup and lemon juice, served with a cherry and grenadine float that sinks to the bottom of the martini glass ($12-14) and the Witches Brew made with vodka, rum, gin, blue curacao, chambord, homemade simple syrup, lemon and cranberry juices, all served over ice with a black rock salt rim ($14-$16).

Yaamava’ Resort & Casino

777 San Manuel Blvd, Highland. 800-359-2464. yaamava.com.

Halloween Trivia Night: Halloween enthusiasts can test their knowledge at the 909’s trivia night on Oct. 31. First place will receive $3,000, second place will receive $1,500 in free play, and third place will receive $500 in free play. 7-9 p.m.

Halloween Haunt on the Pool Deck: The casino will host a Halloween party with music, food, prizes, and a costume contest with a chance to win up to $1,500 in free play. Tickets are $30. 7-10 p.m. on Oct. 31.

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​ Orange County Register 

Israel will let Egypt deliver some badly needed aid to Gaza as it reels from hospital blast

• October 18, 2023

By NAJIB JOBAIN, ISABEL DEBRE, RAVI NESSMAN and MATTHEW LEE

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first crack in a 10-day siege on the territory. Palestinians reeled from a massive blast at a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds the day before and grew increasingly desperate as food and water supplies ran out.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved after a request from visiting U.S. President Joe Biden. It said Israel “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water or medicine, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas militants. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel.

It was not clear when the aid would start flowing. At Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid have been waiting for days to enter. But the facility has only a limited capacity, and Egypt says it has been damaged by Israeli airstrikes.

Israel’s announcement came as rage over Tuesday night’s blast at al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and just as Biden began his visit to Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region. The war started when Hamas militants rampaged across communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

There were conflicting claims of who was responsible for the explosion. Hamas officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying nearly 500 were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.

Upon his arrival, Biden embraced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and expressed concern for the suffering of Gaza’s civilians. He later said the hospital blast appeared not to be Israel’s fault.

“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” he told Netanyahu in remarks in front of the media.

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel resumed shortly before Biden’s arrival, after a 12-hour lull. Israeli strikes on Gaza continued Wednesday, including on cities in south Gaza that Israel had described as “safe zones” for Palestinian civilians.

After the hospital blast, Jordan canceled a meeting between Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Biden was now visiting only Israel.

The war between Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told state-run television.

The Israeli military held a briefing Wednesday morning laying out its case for why it was not responsible for the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said it was not firing in the area when the blast occurred. And, he said, Israeli radar confirmed a rocket barrage was fired by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad from a nearby cemetery at the time of the blast, around 6:59 p.m. Independent video showed one of the rockets in the barrage falling out of the sky, he said.

The misfired rocket hit the parking lot outside the hospital. Were it an airstrike, there would have been a crater there; instead, the fiery blast came from the misfired rocket’s warhead and its unspent propellant, he said.

The Israeli military also released a recording they said was between two Hamas militants discussing the blast, during which the speakers say it was believed to be an Islamic Jihad misfire.

Hagari said Israeli’s intelligence would be shared with U.S. and British officials. He also questioned the death toll provided by Gaza’s Hamas-led Health Ministry.

Since the war began, roughly 450 rockets fired at Israel by militant groups had landed in Gaza, the Israeli military said.

Hamas called Tuesday’s hospital blast “a horrific massacre,” saying it was caused by an Israeli strike. Islamic Jihad dismissed Israel’s claims, accusing Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”

The group pointed to Israel’s order that al-Ahli be evacuated and reports of a previous strike at the hospital as proof that the hospital was an Israeli target. It also said the scale of the explosion, the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of the destruction all pointed to Israel.

The Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, said the hospital, run by the Episcopal Church, had received at least three Israeli military orders to evacuate in the days before the blast. It was hit by Israeli shelling Sunday, wounding four staffers, he said. Israel had ordered all 22 hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate last week.

Naoum declined to cast blame on either party for the blast. “As people of the cloth, we are not military experts,” he said. “We just want to let people see what is happening on the ground and hope that people will come to the conclusion that we’ve had enough of this war.”

The blast left gruesome scenes. Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday morning, the blast scene was littered with charred cars and the ground was blackened by debris. One man who had been sheltering there with his family, Mohammed al-Hayek, said he was sitting with other men in a hospital stairwell Tuesday night, idling away the hours but wary of sitting in the yard.

He stepped away to get them coffee when the blast hit.

“When I returned, they were torn to pieces,” he said. Struggling to speak, he pointed to where their bodies had lain. The stone walls were still splattered with blood. “No one knows anyone,” he managed to say, referring to the difficulty in identifying the victims.

Video after the blast showed the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children.

Some 350 casualties from the al-Ahli blast were rushed to Gaza City’s main hospital, al-Shifa, which was already overwhelmed with wounded from other strikes, said its director, Mohammed Abu Selmia. He said doctors were performing surgery – often without anesthesia – on patients lying on floors.

“We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need anesthesia, we need everything,” Abu Selmia said. He warned that fuel for the hospital’s generators would run out within hours.

The death toll was in dispute, even among those in Gaza. The Health Ministry initially said 500 had died, but revised that number to 471 on Wednesday, without giving details of the dead. Al-Ahli officials said only that the toll was in the hundreds. Abu Selmia said he thought the toll was closer to 250.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 12,000 wounded, with most of the casualties women, children and the elderly. Another 1,300 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.

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More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion, which resulted in some 200 hostages taken into Gaza. Militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since toward cities across Israel.

With troops massed along the border, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, though military officials say no decision has been made.

A strike on a three-story building in Gaza City on Wednesday killed 40 people and another on a bakery in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed four bakers, according to witnesses.

The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas hideouts, infrastructure and command centers and accuses the militants of hiding among civilians.

“It’s not just that people are going hungry. People are at the risk of starvation,” Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, said.

More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes — roughly half of Gaza’s population — and 60% are now in the approximately 14-kilometer (8-mile) long area south of the evacuation zone, the U.N. said.

Debre and Nessman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Amy Teibel in Jerusalem; Samya Kullab in Baghdad; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Samy Magdy and Jack Jeffrey in Cairo; and Ashraf Sweilam in el-Arish, Egypt, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Vinyl records are in high demand. So these music pros opened a pressing plant in Arcadia

• October 18, 2023

Vinyl might be the one of great comeback stories of the 21st century.

The once-antiquated medium, according to a 2022 sales report from the RIAA, makes up over 70% of physical format sales. But vinyl’s growth has come with a side effect. As demand increased and more major label artists got in on the action, production turnaround times grew. And grew. And grew.

“It created a bottleneck,” says longtime mastering engineer and vinyl manufacturer Gil Tamazyan. “It was locking up most of the pressing plants for a lot of indie artists that were just trying to do small-batch records.”

Enter Onyx Record Press.

Founded by Tamazyan and recording artists Moe Espinosa, Surachai and Cyrusrex, the company was born out of that frustrating situation, recently opening with new, technologically advanced machinery inside a 5200-square-foot building in Arcadia.

“We have a machine that is really new technology where it actually takes the record and puts it in a paper sleeve automatically so you don’t have to get fingerprints on it, like we used to do,” says Tamazyan. “It’s got all these new features on it. Super smart. Super accurate.”

At the time of our August video interview with locals Tamazyan and Espinosa, and Chicago-based Surachai, Onyx had just begun pressing records. It took about two years to launch the endeavor, with a year-and-a-half wait for the equipment, but their story goes back much longer than that.

Tamazyan has been manufacturing vinyl since the turn of the millennium and, over the years, has operated presses in various L.A.-area lofts. Back then, making records took some ingenuity.

“The opportunity of being able to buy brand-new equipment didn’t exist,” he says, adding that there was also no technical support and no way to get new parts when needed. “You needed a part, you go to a machine shop, you start with the raw piece of metal and you machine a part that you need.”

Espinosa, best known amongst fans of techno as DJ and producer Drumcell, first met Tamazyan when he began releasing records some 20 years ago.

“Gil is an incredibly talented engineer who, when I first met him, had picked up an old pressing machine and knew how to break this thing down into parts and repair it himself,” he says.

Even in the waning years of vinyl’s popularity, the format had its supporters. Club DJs heavily relied on vinyl well into the aughts. Indie labels and artists often still released music on records. You could easily argue that if it weren’t for these niche cultures— from punk rock to techno— vinyl would have gone the way of the 8-track.

But it didn’t. In fact, it crept back into popularity during the previous decade, prompting a slew of reissues of classic albums and limited editions of new ones.

Coming into the current decade, the demand for vinyl was adversely affecting those who had never given up on the format as turnaround times lengthened amidst pandemic-related supply chain issues.

These delays can impact label release schedules and marketing plans if vinyl won’t be ready until months after the digital release. Bands, too, must contend with these issues when their physical products are delayed, but their tour isn’t.

“It’s incredibly difficult to stay in business, especially when you’re getting pushed out by major labels that have a lot more money,” says Espinosa.

Espinosa and Surachai, who also run the indie label Black Noise, understood the pressure of trying to release music while turnaround times started stretching from months to more than a year.

“At one point, the wait was 14 months and that’s when I saw white rage,” says Surachai. “It was frustrating. So this was created out of opportunity and frustration.”

And they knew they weren’t the only ones feeling the pressure to get records pressed in a timely fashion. “It’s a common theme in every conversation— ‘I can’t get records,’” says Espinosa. “It’s a consistent struggle across the board with just about everybody who loves this format and this medium.”

Meanwhile, Tamazyan was getting calls from larger labels desperate for help in getting their records pressed. “There was a lot of hair-pulling and frustration,” he says.

The upside of the vinyl boom, though, is that a few new companies emerged to produce new record presses with modern technology. So, Espinosa says, when Tamazyan presented the idea of launching a record plant with 21st-century machinery, it was a chance to fill a void.

“We had a perfect opportunity to set up a pressing plant to service the community that we care about the most,” says Espinosa.

Right now, Onyx is able to offer 8-to-10 week turnarounds. “Four weeks into the process, the client receives a test pressing. Four weeks additional after that, we’re delivering the full packaged product,” says Tamazyan. “That’s unheard of since three or four years ago.”

Of course, those turnaround times might change as they expand.

“The ultimate goal was to still be able to provide a product fast enough,” says Espinosa, “so that we can maintain this format and be able to keep independent artists in mind to continue to put their music out.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Hamas is a terrorist organization

• October 18, 2023

There should be no debate over the language we use to describe Hamas and its depraved Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Hamas is a terrorist organization, and the acts of its agents on Oct. 7, when they crossed the border into Israel with the express intent of killing and kidnapping civilians, were terrorism.

That makes them terrorists.

While some have suggested Hamas’ political role in Gaza means it is not a terrorist organization, it is clearly targeting civilians for political ends, which is the very definition of terrorism..

The danger in using euphemisms such as “militants” to describe terrorists is that it normalizes heinous acts of terrorism and implies that the deliberate targeting of civilians is a military act and that Hamas at large has some other, less despicable objective.

But let’s be clear: Hamas’ stated goal in its founding charter calls for the obliteration of the state of Israel. The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada have all formally designated Hamas a terrorist organization. It should not be confused with Palestine or the innocent Palestinians now suffering in Gaza.

Hamas’ terror attack on Israel is clear and indisputable proof that Hamas continues to be committed to its original goal, despite its 2017 charter revisions.

The grisly details that have emerged in the days since the attack leave no doubt.

Terrorists stormed Israeli towns, killing and kidnapping anyone they encountered. They recorded the atrocities on body cameras and posted the video to social media sites.

Footage compiled by the Israeli government shows civilians shot in bedrooms, bathrooms and yards.

At a music festival celebrating “friends, love and infinite freedom,” terrorists gunned down 260 revelers and took an unknown number of hostages.

Authorities also released photographs of slain babies, their bodies shot and burnt.

In Be’eri, over 100 are known to have been killed and others were taken hostage. News reports describe homes riddled with bullet holes and cars reduced to burnt husks. In kibbutz Nir Oz, at least 20 people were murdered and upwards of 80 were kidnapped.

In response to all of this, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the atrocities committed by Hamas as “worse than what I saw with ISIS.”

Hamas currently holds more than 200 hostages from their Oct. 7 attack on Israel and has promised to begin executing them if Israel retaliates.

There is a word to describe the intentional targeting of civilians to political ends, and that word is “terrorism.” Those who commit acts of terrorism are terrorists.

To call these acts or their perpetrators anything other than terrorism and terrorists is not only intellectually disingenuous, it also risks normalizing such acts by obfuscating the essential truth of their nature.

​ Orange County Register 

Coping with the loss of a pet, thankful for pet bereavement benefits

• October 18, 2023

(Left) Oliver and Madeline came to work everyday with Jack at his job at Pasadena Humane. They were the least helpful office assistants ever. (Middle) Oliver’s favorite room in the house was always the kitchen. As a deaf and blind dog, he always followed his nose. (Right) After 18 years together, Jack took one last photo with his best friend just before he passed over the ‘rainbow bridge.’ (Photos courtesy of Jack Hagerman)

When Oliver came into my life at only 2-months-old, he looked and smelled like a puppy — but had the soul and demeanor of an old, grumpy grandpa.

He didn’t like to run and play. He chose leisurely naps over rough-housing in the backyard. He was only interested in going for walks if someone carried him the whole way. He preferred air conditioning and belly rubs to chasing sticks.

His bark had the low raspy tones of a seasoned chain smoker.

While his gorgeous creme coat billowing in the wind gave him the appearance of bubbly, blond bombshell, he had the slow lumbering gait and sluggish temper of an exhausted sloth.

He embodied the phrase, “I can’t be bothered.” He was never in a rush (unless it was to eat).

He walked through life with such an easy, slow pace. A sweet soul who didn’t seem to mind the company of the (literally) hundreds of animals I’ve saved throughout the years. I guess that’s why I didn’t really think this day would come.

He lived life slowly, patiently, gently. So slowly, that I thought he’d just keep lumbering along for another 18 years, in no particular rush to see what was on the other side of the “rainbow bridge.”

Late this summer though, he let us know that he was ready to finally see what’s on the other side. So we honored the promise we made to him that he wouldn’t know a life of suffering.

Now he’s with his sister, Madeline, and brother, Bailey…doing what they all loved to do best, napping.

I can’t quite articulate what it meant to lose Oliver. He was my friend and companion for much of my adult life. I had 18 wonderful years with him — and the very sudden loss of him has been a great deal harder on me than I expected.

I felt an immediate emptiness at the loss of our routines. Ollie was deaf and blind (and had been for the last 10 years of his life), which meant he fell into the “special needs” category of animal care. My husband and I saw to every one of those special needs for so many years, that the sudden loss of them was palpable.

It hit me really, really hard.

I’m very fortunate to work in the animal welfare industry, where my colleagues understand what this kind of loss feels like — and organizationally we have systems in place to support each other through it both emotionally and practically.

I was able to take a few days off after his passing because I didn’t quite trust myself in those first few days. I was raw and emotionally unpredictable. I wasn’t sure I could keep from sobbing at the most inappropriate times.

Because I worked for an animal shelter at the time, we had pet bereavement benefits which allowed us to take paid time off to deal with the loss of a pet, deal with a pet’s acute health crisis, and paid time off for vet visits.

When I first transitioned into the animal welfare space from the human health care industry, I remember being really impressed by these benefits because I wasn’t used to having them.

With my recent loss though, I was reminded of just how critical they were for my mental health and wellness. It wasn’t just a “nice to have,” it was a “must have” benefit; one that I truly needed to move through this.

Tragically though, most employers don’t offer these types of benefits to employees in America — which says a lot about our out-dated values as it relates to our relationship with our animal friends.

Our society still largely views our pets as property (and they are technically considered property in the eyes of the law, too, by the way). So when we experience the loss of a pet, our friends and colleagues have the tendency to minimize the magnitude of our grief.

We’ve all said, or heard someone say “It’s only a dog. Just get another one!”

Many don’t seem to realize how reductive and insensitive that is.

So it’s no wonder that our employers haven’t stepped up to the plate to provide better pet-support to their employee benefits packages. Employees aren’t getting these benefits because they simply aren’t asking for them.

I think we can do better. We must do better. Employers should recognize that the human-animal bond is growing stronger by the day, and that our employee benefit packages should reflect the space our pets occupy in our lives.

Things like pet bereavement, veterinary assistance, and pet insurance are all benefits that could and should be afforded to all employees.

We’re making progress though. There are some organizations that are starting to pay attention and offer more pet support for employees. Scripps Health in San Diego, for example, offers pet insurance benefits and discounts for their employees.

Also, there is an organization called Airvet that provides packages to employers to offer veterinary telemedicine benefits for their employees.

According to their website, 70% of the workforce has at least one pet at home. They also state that 94.5% of pet parents surveyed indicated that having access to this benefit “saved them valuable time, resulting in a more productive and engaged workforce.”

Our pets are our family. So when they get sick, or they pass away, it’s important to normalize being open about our grief in the workplace and have better systems in place to support us when illness or loss happens.

I want to live in a world where my grief over the loss of my dog isn’t minimized or dismissed because he’s “just a dog.”

Because he wasn’t just a dog to me. He was my friend. He loved me ferociously and unconditionally every day of his life. He made me laugh. He drove me crazy. He healed me.

I’m fortunate I had an employer that honored the bigness of that loss with benefits to support me through it.

If you don’t have that with your employer, you should. You deserve it.

As a child, Jack Hagerman founded and operated his own make-shift animal rescue — taking in stray cats, injured birds, and the occasional bunny. As an adult, he co-founded a critically endangered livestock conservancy on his farm in the Midwest, where he cared for and rehabilitated more than 400 animals in 17 different critically endangered livestock species. He formerly worked with Pasadena Humane and the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society. When he isn’t working with animals, he’s writing about them — hoping to create a better world for our animal friends, one witty tangent at a time.

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​ Orange County Register 

Blame Gov. Newsom for California’s high gas prices

• October 18, 2023

There’s good news: Gas prices are dropping nationally. In California, on average they’re down about 18 cents from last week. A main reason was the state’s cheaper winter blend was allowed in late September, a month early. But prices at the pump still are higher here than in the rest of the country.

“All this is, is price gouging,” Gov. Gavin Newsom charged Sept. 28. “They’re gonna spin you and it’s the taxes and the environmental rules – and it’s B.S. You’re smart enough to know what those taxes are compared to the national average and it doesn’t add up.”

Yes it does. Consider this comparison. On Oct. 17 the lowest price for regular gasoline in Ehrenberg, Arizona was $3.79, according to GasBuddy.com. Drive west across the Colorado River seven miles, and in Blythe, Calif. it was $5.39, or $1.60 more. There’s no reason why oil companies would “gouge” in Blythe but not Ehrenberg.

Statewide, according to the Gasprices.AAA.com, on average it was $4.31 in Arizona and $5.59 in California, or $1.28 more. Nationally, it was $3.59; meaning California was $2 more.

The real reason, GasBuddy.com analyst Patrick De Haan explained, is the state suffers “the lack of refining capacity, a special blend that’s only required in California, high taxes [and] a cap-and-trade program.”

California’s market, although large, is but a fraction of the entire global oil market. Economist and Chapman University President Emeritus Jim Doti wrote in the Register earlier this year oil high company profits now are a mirror of the massive losses they suffered three years ago when Newsom and others panicked during COVID-19 and shut down the economy.

This year Newsom pushed through SBX1-2, which established fines for supposed “price gouging” and set up a new Division of Petroleum Market Oversight bureaucracy to monitor industry pricing. Also, last month he and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the big oil companies for supposedly “misleading” the public about climate change.

Both actions will raise oil-company costs, which will be passed on to consumers. There’s no price gouging. Just the usual California over-taxation and overregulation.

​ Orange County Register 

San Clemente street artist Bandit makes mark in war-torn Ukraine

• October 18, 2023

Art is a powerful weapon, a way to arm people with hope and inspire the future generation.

That was street artist Bandit’s mission heading to war-torn areas of Ukraine during a recent 16-day trip, during which the San Clemente native painted 11 murals on bullet-riddled and bombed buildings and structures throughout the region.

“It is to remind people, to show the people of the Ukraine some of us are still paying attention and you have our sympathy for what you are going through,” said the artist who does not reveal his name due to the secrecy of his work.

Bandit traveled with San Clemente photographer Tristan George to document the journey in film and video, with plans to release a documentary to show the devastating impacts of war, he said.

He said he had the idea to travel to the Ukraine shortly after the war started in early 2022, after seeing the cities being destroyed and countless lives lost.

He met a couple from Ukraine who came to San Clemente shortly after the start of the war, he said, and they connected him with another couple in Ukraine – the husband was high ranked in the ministry of defense for the Ukrainian military, he said.

That relationship allowed the artist and filmmaker to get through military checkpoints and into hard-to-access places when they arrived; many of the locations are still under strict curfew with air sirens blaring through the night.

“We worked with the government, in a sense,” Bandit said. “They were super open to it, they were very receptive.”

As they moved through the country, Bandit left behind his messages of hope through art.

One scene showed an Ukrainian soldier using the hammer from the Soviet Union emblem to hang the Ukrainian flag, illustrating the country’s independence, he said. Another painting depicted a tug-of-war scene with a Russian and Ukrainian soldier on a large slab of concrete. On an abandoned Russian tank, he created a large handprint in the country’s iconic yellow and blue colors.

He left behind a bright yellow sunflower on a crumbling building; the silhouette of a couple dancing on a wall in the city of Kharkiv, something the town is known for; and a young child sitting atop a mountain of bullet holes dotting a building clutching a kite in the country’s colors.

“They understood what we were trying to do, as far as making something bullet-riddled, burned and destroyed into something with hope, peace and color,” Bandit said.

Painting in such a volatile area was no easy task.

“It’s nerve wracking. You’re entering areas in current crisis and war,” he said. “We couldn’t walk everywhere we wanted because there’s mines.”

Bandit’s work can be found throughout his hometown of San Clemente, both in public spaces and inside businesses, but in recent years he has turned his attention to bigger cities and causes he has felt needed attention. His artwork often puts a spotlight on serious issues such as school shootings, the drug epidemic and human trafficking.

On Avenida Del Mar, a painting he did of a young girl holding a tattered Ukrainian flag, a dove flying above as a symbol of peace, generated a buzz around town shortly after the war started. The piece was later torn down as construction started on a new restaurant.

George, who grew up in Irvine, said he wanted to be part of the project after being inspired by the many immigrants in his hometown, many parents of friends, who told stories of oppression and even jail time for speaking out in their native countries.

The photographer said because of curfews, many of the paintings had to be done in daylight. People would pass by at the start of a project and wonder what they were up to with skepticism, George said, but would return with appreciation as the art pieces evolved.

“I understand you are doing this for us, for the children. They are growing up in a such a hard time, it’s valuable to have them play at a playground and have this positive message,” he recalled one person saying.

“Being able to look at a building that has a lot of painful memories and blood on it and creating new memories – that was an inspiring thing,” he said.

One of the most memorable encounters was with a man who told of how he and other civilians held off a Russian convoy outside of a building where Bandit illustrated children painting heartbeat monitor lines in yellow and blue. The man watched 50 of his friends die during that standoff, George said.

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“He was just very happy that we were doing something to brighten an area that held a lot of pain in his heart,” George said. “I was able to interview him in front of the building, a local priest translating for both of us.”

Another memorable interview was with a woman who had traveled to see a painting Bandit did on a glass-tile wall dotted with bullet holes. It is the scene of a soldier and a woman sitting on the hands of a broken clock, separated as they reached for one another.

The woman told George she had stayed to care for the elderly and animals left in a shelter, even as power in her besieged town was cut off. Her husband was called to serve in the army a month before she found out she was pregnant.

“She had no ability to contact him. (The baby) was born just a few months ago, she hasn’t heard from her husband since the start of the war. There’s no documentation, there was no word if he’s alive,” George said. “She’s still waiting for him to one day return. It brought a lot of magnitude to the piece that Bandit painted on the building, seeing art tell a true story, in a way.”

A woman named Julia traveled from afar to see a piece set on bullet-dotted glass of a soldier and a woman sitting on the hands of a broken clock, separated as they reached for one another. Julia hasn’t heard from her love, giving birth to their child in the time he has been gone. (Photo courtesy of Tristan George)

George said a big takeaway from the trip was the willingness of people to share their experience, despite how difficult it was to talk about.

“We want art to be able to tell not just one story, but countless stories and give the human perspective, outside of politics and opinions – just show that this is real life, this is what people are experiencing,” he said. “Despite whatever side you decide to take, this is reality and art has a way to transverse language.”

Seeing the struggles the Ukrainians are facing was surreal, Bandit said. “It was eye-opening, as far as going to a country like that and being from our little town in San Clemente.”

Bandit said he hopes the artwork will tell the Ukrainian people that while others can never understand what they are going through, they have not been forgotten.

“The artwork is a gift to show you that and to hopefully brighten your day and give you something to look forward to,” Bandit said is his message to the Ukrainian people. “And give you extra juice to keep fighting.”

​ Orange County Register