As Californians mitigate wildfire threats, why is there still an insurance crisis?

• May 1, 2024

Spend any time thinking or talking about insurance in California these days and you’re bound to hear the word “mitigation.”

Fire officials, lawmakers, insurance agents and others are asking homeowners  to help lower the risk of devastating wildfires by making improvements to their properties — in some cases at great expense — and often in the context of trying to hang on to their insurance policies. The state has spent about $3.7 billion on forest management in the past seven years. Communities, fire districts and others are doing their part, too.

But some insurance companies citing growing risks and costs have paused or stopped writing new policies in California, causing a crisis of home-insurance affordability and availability. Some homeowners have seen their premiums spike or are being priced out, while others have been forced to turn to the ever-growing FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort that offers less coverage but higher insurance premiums anyway.

As Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara rolls out his plan to try to reverse that trend, three state lawmakers are pushing for mitigation to be taken into account when insurers set premiums or when they decide whether to offer policies at all. Or they want mitigation to be more effectively tracked and strategized.

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“We believe that if you do the homework, you should get the credit,” said state Sen. Josh Becker, the Democrat representing Menlo Park. “As a state, we’re doing that homework.”

Becker’s staff cites the billions of dollars the state has spent on reducing fuel and managing vegetation since 2017, when wildfires consumed many parts of California. The sum doesn’t include other spending on fire engines, air tankers and increasing staff for Cal Fire, which has added about 4,500 positions in the past decade.

A bill authored by Becker seeks to incorporate mitigation into insurance companies’ underwriting decisions — when they consider whether to write or renew policies. Senate Bill 1060 awaits a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

One of the regulations Lara has unveiled as part of his plan to try to fix the state’s insurance market involves allowing insurers to use catastrophe models in rate-making, which includes taking mitigation into account. But some say that’s not enough to address the availability of insurance.

Former state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones recently told CalMatters that Becker’s bill is needed specifically for underwriting because the insurance commissioner’s authority is limited to rate-making.

“Local, state and federal governments are spending billions of dollars in forest treatments, so homeowners ought to see a benefit,” Jones said. “That’s not happening now, but should happen.”

Wildfire mitigation and risk

Studies show that mitigation is reducing wildfire risks. A recent study by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found that structural modifications can reduce wildfire risk by 40%, and, when combined with vegetation modifications, can reduce risk by 75%. A subsequent Moody’s study found that utility Southern California Edison’s actions to harden its power grid reduced the risk of catastrophic wildfire losses by 75% to 80%.

But insurance-industry experts have concerns about Becker’s bill. For one thing, they say incorporating mitigation into underwriting shifts more financial risk to insurers.

In addition, they say they already use models that account for mitigation.

Sheri Lee Scott, an actuary for a Milliman Property & Casualty practice in Orange County, said the bill is yet another regulation that could “exacerbate” the insurance crisis.

“Insurance companies are trying their best to incorporate (mitigation) already,” Scott said, pointing to a recent state regulation directing insurers to incorporate mitigation into determining premiums — which Scott wrote in a report “presents tremendous challenges for insurers in terms of compliance and the potential erosion of adequate rates for wildfire risk.”

The insurance commissioner said his office started enforcing that rule on considering mitigation last year, but homeowners, insurance agents, fire chiefs and other lawmakers say the different ways everyone is trying to reduce wildfire risk isn’t making enough of a dent in the state’s insurance crisis.

Bernard Molloy, fire chief of Murrieta, said during a public workshop hosted by the Insurance Department last week that “residents don’t receive credit” for the “tremendous amount of work” they put into trying to reduce wildfire risk. Jorge Escobar, a Bay Area resident, said during the same workshop that he had just asked the Moraga fire district whether insurance companies are taking mitigation into account. “The answer was, surprisingly, no… Why isn’t this being mandated?” he asked.

Tina Purwin, an insurance agent in Northridge, told CalMatters her clients get notices that they’re not being renewed despite taking action to avoid wildfire risk.

Donna Yutzy’s home in the Magalia area of Butte County on Nov. 4, 2023. State law prohibits the use of landscaping plants and any flammable materials within a five-foot radius of the house. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters

“Carriers are being ultra picky,” Purwin said. “They’re looking for any way to not take the risks.”

At another public hearing on insurance issues last week — by the Little Hoover Commission, the independent state oversight agency — Nevada County Supervisor Heidi Hall said the Sierra Nevada-area residents she represents are spending “tens of thousands of dollars” on hardening their homes, and that the “county itself has put in millions of dollars, with the help of Cal Fire, to put in fire breaks.”

Yet, she said “we’re not seeing discounts from insurance companies. They’re still leaving.”

Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, a Democrat representing Chino, authored another bill related to mitigation. Assembly Bill 2983 calls for the Insurance Department and the California Office of Emergency Services to work together on figuring out whether investments in mitigation are helping insurance availability.

Project assessments would have to be published on state websites. And a representative of the Insurance Department would be added to the board of the California Wildfire Mitigation Program.

“Some people think (mitigation is already taken into account), some don’t,” Rodriguez said. “We need to bring everyone together. We need to talk about it.”

Rodriguez’s staff said both the Insurance Department and the mitigation program appear to be open to the board-representative idea. The Insurance Department did not answer questions and the emergency services agency did not respond to questions in time for publication.

Earlier this month, the Assembly Insurance Committee approved AB 2983 and re-referred it to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

‘They should not be losing their insurance’

Another bill would require the Insurance Department to evaluate every three years whether to update its Safer from Wildfires regulation, which identifies steps property owners and officials can take to protect their homes and communities. The steps include installing fire-rated roofs, upgrading windows, removing combustible sheds and more. The department adopted the regulation in 2022 and says on its website that taking these measures “can help you save money on your insurance.”

Assemblymember Damon Connolly, a Democrat representing San Rafael, authored AB 2416,  which he said would “lock in periodic updates to the program so it’s most effectively serving consumers.”

Connolly said his staff is in talks with the Insurance Department, which he said is open to discussing his bill. He also said he has made amendments to address insurance-industry concerns. The Insurance Department did not answer questions about the bill.

The assemblymember also said that not only should property owners get discounts when they take the steps outlined in the regulation, “I would say if consumers are doing these steps, they should not be losing their insurance.”

The Assembly Insurance Committee has referred his bill to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Lawmakers representing California in Congress are trying to make mitigation measures matter, too. U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, the Democrat who represents Napa and other counties, said during a press conference last week in Santa Rosa that his bill, HR 7849, would establish a program for individual homeowners in certain areas to receive grants of up to $10,000, as well as tax credits for homeowners and businesses, for mitigation.

The legislation, co-authored by U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, the Republican who represents rural Northern California, was introduced in March and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Thompson said that as he and his colleagues tried to figure out how they could help on a national level, “what we heard repeatedly from insurance companies was: Make sure there’s disaster resilience in building, that homeowners (are doing) everything necessary to protect their homes.”

​ Orange County Register 

Duane Eddy dies at 86; legend of ‘twang’ guitar inspired scores of musicians

• May 1, 2024

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn” helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians, has died at age 86.

Eddy died of cancer Tuesday at the Williamson Health hospital in Franklin, Tennessee, according to his wife, Deed Abbate.

With his raucous rhythms, and backing hollers and hand claps, Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and mastered a distinctive sound based on the premise that a guitar’s bass strings sounded better on tape than the high ones.

“I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize and I stuck pretty much with that. I’m not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best,” he told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview. “A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar.”

“Twang” defined Eddy’s sound from his first album, “Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel,” to his 1993 box set, “Twang Thang: The Duane Eddy Anthology.”

“It’s a silly name for a nonsilly thing,” Eddy told the AP in 1993. “But it has haunted me for 35 years now, so it’s almost like sentimental value — if nothing else.”

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Eddy and producer Lee Hazlewood helped create the “twang” sound in the 1950s, a sound Hazlewood later adapt to his production of Nancy Sinatra’s 1960s smash “These Boots Are Made for Walkin.’” Eddy had a five-year commercial peak from 1958-63. He said in 1993 he took his 1970 hit “Freight Train” as a clue to slow down.

“It was an easy listening hit,” he recalled. “Six or seven years before, I was on the cutting edge.”

Eddy recorded more than 50 albums, some of them reissues. He did not work too much from the 1980s on, “living off my royalties,” he said in 1986.

About “Rebel Rouser,” he told the AP: “It was a good title and it was the rockest rock ‘n’ roll sound. It was different for the time.”

He scored theme music for movies including “Because They’re Young,” “Pepe” and “Gidget Goes Hawaiian.” But Eddy said he turned down doing the James Bond theme song because there wasn’t enough guitar music in it.

In the 1970s he worked behind-the-scenes in music production work, mainly in Los Angeles.

Eddy was born in Corning, New York, and grew up in Phoenix, where he began playing guitar at age 5. He spent his teen years in Arizona dreaming of singing on the Grand Ole Opry, and eventually signed with Jamie Records of Philadelphia in 1958. “Rebel Rouser” soon followed.

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Eddy later toured with Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” and appeared in “Because They’re Young,” “Thunder of Drums” among other movies.

He moved to Nashville in 1985 after years of semiretirement in Lake Tahoe, California.

Eddy was not a vocalist, saying in 1986, “One of my biggest contributions to the music business is not singing.”

Paul McCartney and George Harrison were both fans of Eddy and he recorded with both of them after their Beatles’ days. He played on McCartney’s “Rockestra Theme” and Harrison played on Eddy’s self-titled comeback album, both in 1987.

​ Orange County Register 

Woodbridge’s Unified swimmers set pace with new inclusion events at CIF-SS championships

• May 1, 2024

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IRVINE — Coach Marcus Natividad’s eyes sparkle with excitement as he scans his neatly printed practice schedule, which includes a picture of him wearing sunglasses and a whistle.

The 2023 graduate of Woodbridge High helps guide his alma mater’s Unified Sports swimming team, the same program that he left his mark on as a competitor.

Natividad was the swimmer who went from covering the 50-yard freestyle in about 2 minutes — holding the lane line on a few stops along the way — to completing the event without a break in about 40 seconds at league finals last season.

Known as “Coach Marcus on the pool deck, he understands the heart of his athletes from the school’s Extensive Support Needs (ESN) program. The desire burns in him, too.

“He’s an awesome success story,” Woodbridge coach James Hickson said before a recent practice.

And so is the rise of the paralympic, or inclusion events, at the CIF Southern Section swimming championships, which are being held this week at Mt. SAC in Walnut.

Last year, the section introduced the 50 freestyle paralympic event for swimmers with physical or mental challenges. The races received some of the loudest applause of the championships.

“It was pretty good cheers,” said Woodbridge junior Justin Esquivel, who raced in one the events. “A lot of people are very kind to us.”

This week, the section will add relays to its paralympic schedule. The inclusion events are expected to held during finals, assistant commissioner Thom Simmons said.

“We’re grateful for the additional events and opportunities to race,” Hickson said.

Woodbridge has been among Orange County’s leaders in building a Unified swimming program.

For the second consecutive spring, the Warriors will have five swimmers at the Division 1 meet. The team of Esquivel, Delaney Klem, Tori Green, Yuna Taing and Sydney Truong will race in finals on Saturday.

Woodbridge’s Unified relay with four girls could be one of the highlights.

The school’s swimming program benefits from the Warrior Unified Club, an on-campus organization that encourages ESN students to participate in sports.

“Probably since 2018 or 2019, we’ve had swimmers from our ESN program involved in swim,” said Hickson, who chairs the club with Nicholas Card and teaches in the ESN program. “The efforts are about inclusion.”

The “unified” theme surfaces when Woodbridge’s ESN swimmers are paired with “partner athletes”, or fellow students and swimmers who offer support. All of the program’s swimmers also practice at the same time.

“It kind of brings the team a little closer together,” Hickson said. “We’re focused internally on how we can make our program the best and we hope that other schools will see what we’re doing and want to get involved.”

The current for Unified swimming seems to be growing stronger. Earlier this season, Woodbridge’s Unified team raced against Trabuco Hills’ Unified squad.

The CIF-SS added the inclusion events last year after receiving an inquiry from a mother of a swimmer with cerebral palsy.

A former swimmer at Woodbridge, Hickson, 35, said his inspiration to teach in the ESN program traces to his brother Jack, 26, who has special needs.

“I get to see a lot of improvements,” Hickson said of his positions at Woodbridge. “These (swimmers) are amazing. They are in the water on time. They do their stretches. They’re great. There’s no other issues with them. They’re always doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.”

Hickson designed a practice workout schedule that Natividad follows with his Unified swimmers. The plan covers numerous stretches, proper spacing in the pool, warm-ups, drills, a main workout set and a cooldown.

Natividad also is known to record race videos and rattle off the times of his swimmers.

“Marcus deserves a raise,” Hickson said with a laugh. “A lot of the kids in our program really look up to him.”

Natividad enjoys teaching flip turns the most.

“Justin almost did one,” he said proudly.

Natividad hopes to make a career in coaching.

“My dream job is to be a staff member helping students,” he said.

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​ Orange County Register 

3 Michelin Star dishes you should try on the Paseo menu at Downtown Disney

• May 1, 2024

Chef Carlos Gaytan keeps three dishes on the menu at his new Paseo restaurant in Downtown Disney that hark back to a decade ago when his Chicago restaurant Mexique was honored with a Michelin Star.

A trio of Gaytan’s new restaurant concepts held a grand opening ceremony on Wednesday, May 1 at Downtown Disney. The new Paseo restaurant, Centrico courtyard bar and Tiendita grab-and-go stand take over spaces formerly occupied by Catal restaurant, Uva bar and Sprinkles cupcake bakery.

The grand opening ceremony for the new Paseo restaurant, Centrico courtyard bar and Tiendita grab-and-go stand at Downtown Disney. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Gaytan’s signature style combines Mexican flavors with a French haute cuisine culinary style.

While a few dishes have stayed on Gaytan’s menus for a decade, he prefers to move forward rather than look backward.

“Evolution is very important,” Gaytan said during an interview after the grand opening ceremony. “It’s good to stay with some dishes that are really good, but I believe people are more excited when you create new items and new dishes. They come back more often.”

ALSO SEE: 5 best things I ate at Disneyland’s Pixar Fest

Gaytan had a big year in 2013 when his Mexique restaurant was awarded a Michelin Star, he became the first Mexican-born chef to earn the coveted honor and he joined Bravo’s “Top Chef” reality competition show as a contestant.

“Getting a Michelin Star is when you start cooking for real and loving what you do,” Gaytan said.

Mexique closed in 2018 and Gaytan went on a yearlong journey in Mexico to rediscover his culinary origins, reconnect with his homeland and understand his heritage.

Since then, the dishwasher turned celebrity chef has opened Tzuco in Chicago, the AAA Five Diamond-certified Ha in Cancun, Mexico, and now the trio of new eateries next to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland fight involving stroller-pushing mom leads to ejection

Paseo at Downtown Disney draws upon three Michelin Star-winning recipes from a decade ago when Gaytan was at Mexique.

1) Mejillones – Prince Edward Island mussels, saffron beurre blanc, dried chorizo, pickled jalapeno and sourdough bread – $26

Gaytan’s PEI mussels are one of those fan favorite dishes that have traveled from Mexique to Tzuco to Paseo.

2) Pulpo Enamorado – Roasted octopus, tuna aioli, salsa macha and pickled vegetables – $24

The star of the show with the roasted octopus dish is the dried chipotle chile salsa.

“The salsa matcha is something that people have to try,” Gaytan said. “It’s really delicious.”

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3) Carne Asada – 12-ounce certified Angus beef New York steak, hoja santa, quesillo doblada, goat cheese, fondue, oven-roasted tomatoes and fingerling potatoes – $54

The Carne Asada has been a staple on Gaytan’s menus for a long time — but he has changed the steak preparation for Paseo.

“I used to do dry aged ribeye. Now here it’s New York,” Gaytan said. “The sauce is really good.”

​ Orange County Register 

After months of delays and decades of waiting, fluffy sand is being delivered in San Clemente

• May 1, 2024

Beachgoers who visit the San Clemente Pier area this summer should see some extra towel space on the sand.

While the grains are a bit darker in color – sediment pulled from the bottom of the ocean off Surfside Beach about 30 miles away – the soft sand is a welcome sight for the coastal city grappling with severe erosion that has shrunk its beaches in recent years.

The US Army Corps of Engineers-led sand replenishment project got underway again late last week after months of snags. including more rocks and cobble being initially dredged up than expected, causing the endeavor to be halted until a new source identified. It had taken decades of permitting and funding delays to even get the project approved.

“We’re delighted to have them back and working again in San Clemente, the restart is a very good cause for celebration,” said Leslea Meyerhoff, San Clemente’s coastal administrator. “The sediment quality looks great.”

Beachgoers and pier walkers this week stopped to take in the sight of a pipe spewing fresh sand onto the beach and tractors moving the grains around.

Beverly Thompson, a Whittier resident who regularly vacations in San Clemente, said she’s noticed the sand space shrink in recent years, with more rocks dotting the beach than before.

But she can’t help but wonder, she said, if the sand being piped in and spread out will actually stay.

“I’m wondering if Mother Nature is going to take it back to the ocean,” she said, looking out at the newly built up beach. “I don’t know – is it going to work, or is it going to be a temporary fix?”

Thompson happened to be standing near an expert on the issue, UC Irvine Civil Engineering Professor Brett Sanders, who researches the region’s sand erosion trends and troubles.

“It will spread out across the coast,” explained Sanders, whose team has measured the coastline and studies wave action that moves sediment. “There will be times it gets pulled offshore. When there’s milder waves, it tends to push it back on shore. It will get dispersed around.”

Looking out at the beach, Sanders explained the complex puzzle that has caused the region to see a dwindling sand supply.

Typically, sand naturally comes down rivers and channels, but those have been concreted so that supply was cut off, he said. Inland development has also kept sediment upstream in place. Drought conditions in recent years has stopped sand that would naturally be washed downstream with storm water from being pushed to the coast and big swells in recent years have pulled sand away from the shore, he said.

There has been some good news: the past two wet winters have brought sand downstream to help add some beach, but there still needs to be more effort to manage and add sand supply to the system, he said.

Beaches are important not just for the region’s recreation and tourism, but as a critical buffer between infrastructure such as the rail line, he said.

“We need to do a better job of actively managing the coast. We can’t just neglect the coast for 20 or 30 years and expect it to maintain itself, because we’ve cut off the main supply to the coast,” Sanders said. “We’ve armored the bluffs, we’ve built up the rivers and we don’t get the same supply of sand to the coast that nature would have provided in the past. There’s a role for us to maintain the beaches more actively.”

As for the darker color of the delivered sand, the new sand will mix in with existing sand and even out in color. It’s a bit courser than the native material, which means it should stick around longer, Meyerhoff noted.

The project is one of several ways the city is hoping to bolster its beaches. It recently joined SANDAG – the San Diego Association of Governments – to collaborate on efforts to bring sand into the region. It is also in the process of obtaining its permitting for opportunistic sand so it can expand beaches in areas not within the Army Corps project when material becomes available.

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National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Science Program Manager Trevor Meckley also showed up in San Clemente on a recent day to survey the work being done to replenish the beach.

“It’s definitely one of the solutions in places like this that is clearly a heavily used beach. There’s no other option other than to put new sand there,” he said. “It sounds like Army Corps has made a commitment to doing this for a while.”

What’s still unknown is how much more the project will ultimately cost both the Army Corps and the city due to delays and having to find a new sand source; estimates have put the total price tag at about $23.5 million, far greater than the original $16 million. The project is funded 65% by the federal government and 35% by the city and grants it has secured.

“We are determining how we can lessen the financial impact to the city. An example of financing plans has been sent to the city for its consideration,” said Army Corps Chief of Public Affairs Dena O’Dell.

While the project is again underway, only 92,000 cubic yards of the planned 251,000 cubic yards of sand anticipated for the project will be put in place during the 25 days remaining in the current window allowed for the work to be done, O’Dell said.

The first phase will finish before Memorial Day, which as long as the dredger returns by fall to finish, has an upside, officials said.

“It avoids the highest peak use of summer when people just want to be on the beach and enjoy, and not worry about sand placement activities conflicting with summer recreation,” Meyerhoff said.

The replenishment is expected to be repeated every five years, for the next 50 years, though each round will need to secure federal funding.

U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, who represents southern Orange County and northern San Diego County, was glad the project was once again underway, he said.

“After some delays, I’m glad to see the sand replenishment project back on track and on its way to completion. This took many partnerships that are working toward a wider, quality beach for all residents and visitors to enjoy,” he said in a statement. “Ultimately, this project, made possible by funding I secured, will restore our beaches and protect critical infrastructure like the LOSSAN Rail Corridor long into the future. I look forward to seeing our new, wider beaches in the months ahead.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Pacers spoil Russell Westbrook’s return as Clippers’ home struggles continue

• March 26, 2024

LOS ANGELES — There has been a lot of talk lately about the Clippers’ identity. Are they winners, the team that reeled off a 26-5 run earlier this season and briefly sat atop the Western Conference standings?

Or are they no better than a .500 team, having gone 7-7 during the month of March?

Coach Tyronn Lue had a harsher description of what his team has become – soft.

“That could be our identity, if you want to call it that,” Lue said after watching the Clippers put up a fight in the first three quarters then succumb to the Indiana Pacers, 133-116, on Monday night, their fifth consecutive loss on their home court.

“We have to be tougher mentally and physically,” Lue continued. “We did have an identity when we were 26-5. We had a great identity, but you can’t pick and choose when you want to lead, you can’t pick and choose when you want to have an identity. You have to do things the right way.”

The Clippers – who got 26 points each from All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the loss – don’t seem to know what they want to be. They were close to securing home-court advantage during the playoffs, but now at 44-27, they have slipped to fifth behind the New Orleans Pelicans, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“I think we’re all trying to figure out what the (heck) is going on,” point guard James Harden said.

Like Lue, Harden was at a loss to explain why the Clippers seem so lost this late in the season after a celebrated run through December and January that featured winning streaks of nine and five games.

“If we could pinpoint it, put our finger on it, we would go out and do it,” Harden said. “It’s a combination of things.”

Harden said regaining their identity as a team that can grind out victories and pile up wins is important, especially heading into the postseason.

“When you have an identity as a team, you have something to rely on, something to fall back on,” he said.

The Clippers showed a defensive effort against the Pacers that had been missing in recent weeks. But not even the return of Russell Westbrook could produce a victory once Indiana got rolling.

The Pacers topped their season average of 12.31 points behind the scoring of Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner and Tyrese Haliburton as they shot 58.1% from the field and 60.7% from 3-point range. Siakam led Indiana with 31 points and four rebounds, while Turner added 24 points and seven rebounds and Haliburton had 21 points and nine assists.

Lue had hoped Westbrook’s return would provide a needed spark for his team, which has won once in its past 10 games against teams with winning records.

Westbrook checked into his first game in more than three weeks at the 5:24 mark of the first quarter, giving the Clippers the energy off the bench they had missed in his absence. He had six points in the first half.

Westbrook had been sidelined since he broke his left hand on March 1 and had surgery three days later. He had been averaging 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 58 games.

He finished with 14 points and seven assists in 18 minutes against the Pacers.

“I think having that pace and having that energy on the floor is definitely infectious and we need that pop,” Lue said. “… having that pop, we could definitely use that.”

The Westbrook effect only went so far. The Pacers, behind Haliburton’s long-range shooting, quickly quieted the Clippers in the first half, erasing a one-time eight-point lead to hold a 65-62 advantage at halftime.

George got the Clippers moving early, leading them to a brief lead in the first quarter. He had 13 points in the opening half.

The Pacers stretched their lead to 10 points, 78-68, in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Jarace Walker at the 8:24 mark and it looked as though the Pacers were poised to break open the game, but the Clippers hung in and pulled to within 86-83 with 2:58 left.

After a tight third quarter, the Pacers slowly pushed their lead to 16 before settling for a 17-point victory, avenging a 151-127 Clippers victory in December on the strength of Harden’s 35 points, 27 of them coming off nine 3-pointers. This time, Harden was a non-factor, finishing with 11 points and seven assists.

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Clippers guard Norman Powell had 22 points off the bench. Center Ivica Zubac pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with nine points.

The Pacers – playing on the second night of a back-to-back set – shot 8 for 15 from 3-point range in the second half, while holding the Clippers to 1 for 9 from behind the arc in the final two quarters.

“I think collectively we just got to come together during tough times,” Westbrook said. “Adversity, to me, is a real measure of who you are as a man and to who you are as a team. And I think now is a perfect time for us to be able to pull together, use what we know how to win games and use ourselves to help each other out to close games and win games.”

Lue pointed to consistent effort as a solution.

“The only way we’re gonna get out of it is playing hard for 48 minutes, doing things right every single night, every single possession,” Lue said. “Not two out of five, not two out of six. Every time, just do the right thing, and you’ll be able to get out of this rut.”

​ Orange County Register 

Anze Kopitar leads Kings past Canucks for 4th straight win

• March 26, 2024

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Kings have found some late-season momentum.

Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist to help the Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Blake Lizotte and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings, and Cam Talbot finished with 21 saves.

“It got a little hairy there at the end, there’s no question,” Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. “A couple of saves by (Talbot) and guys blocked some shots, got it done. It’s a good team. We’re proud to beat them.”

Brock Boeser and Sam Lafferty had goals for Vancouver, which had its three-game win streak snapped. Casey DeSmith had 16 saves.

“They’re a great team. We know what to expect and pretty much every game from here on out is going to be like that,” Lafferty said. “So I think we’re gearing up, we’re trending in the right direction. It just wasn’t our night.”

The Canucks had a chance to become the first team to clinch a playoff berth. However, they remained one point ahead of Colorado and Dallas for the top spot in the Western Conference standings.

Trailing 3-1, the Canucks pulled DeSmith in favor of an extra skater with just over 4½ minutes remaining. The move paid off when Boeser’s shot from the top of the right faceoff circle hit Kopitar’s skate and deflected in past Talbot, pulling Vancouver within one with 2:54 left.

Boeser leads Vancouver with 37 goals on the season.

Canucks coach Rick Tocchet called a 30-second timeout with less than a minute to go. With DeSmith once again out of the net, Vancouver pressed for the tying goal. The Canucks got a prime opportunity when Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was sent to the box for tripping with 21 seconds to go, but they couldn’t bury a final shot during the stretch of 6-on-4 play.

“There’s going to be a lot of hard games here coming down and I think this is good prep for us,” Canucks forward J.T. Miller said. “And we’ve got to find a way to win games like that, not give up the late one in the second or whatever happened. I mean, they’re all tight against L.A. That’s just going to be how it is this time of year.”

The Kings took a 3-1 advantage late in the second, scoring twice in less than two minutes.

Lizotte put the Kings ahead 2-1 with 3:31 to go on a delayed penalty after Vancouver’s Carson Soucy was clocked for tripping. With six skaters on the ice, Lizotte fired a one timer that hit Canucks defenseman Ian Cole at the side of the net before pinging off Soucy’s skates on the way in past DeSmith.

Kopitar got his 40th assist of the season on the play and has multiple points in four straight games, with four goals and five assists across the stretch.

Kopitar scored his 24th of the season with 1:40 to go in the period as DeSmith got a piece of the veteran forward’s long blast but couldn’t hang on to the puck, which fell to the crease. Kopitar came around the back of the net and tapped it in to give the Kings a two-goal cushion.

The Kings went 0 for 2 on the power play while the Canucks were 0 for 1.

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A bad Canucks line change created an odd-man advantage for the Kings midway through the opening period. With the home side down a player, Pierre-Luc Dubois sent a pass in the slot to Fiala, who fired a shot in past a diving DeSmith to give the Kings a 1-0 lead 7:01 into the game. It was Fiala’s 24th goal of the season.

Vancouver’s third line ground out a tying goal with 7:10 left in the first. Lafferty fought off Alex Laferriere along the boards, then muscled his way to the front of the net and popped a silky wrist shot in to tie it.

Canucks center Elias Lindholm sat out with an undisclosed injury. Tocchet said the Swedish forward is “day to day.” Defenseman Ian Cole returned to Vancouver’s lineup after missing two games for what Tocchet previously called “maintenance.”

UP NEXT

The Kings play at Edmonton on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT in the second stop of a four-game trip.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange Coast College women’s basketball leans on ‘unmatched’ chemistry to defend state title

• March 26, 2024

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Orange County crowned four CIF-SS champions in basketball in the winter but the success on the court didn’t stop there.

Orange Coast College’s women’s team captured its second consecutive state title earlier this month to join the list of champions.

With contributions from several county products, the Pirates defeated Glendale 71-60 at Mt. SAC on March 17 to finish the season 30-3.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” said Orange Coast College coach Sammy Doucette, who played at Woodbridge and Vanguard. “(Winning a second title) was the goal the second we won the first one. I’m very proud of (our team) for making it happen.”

Guard Ashari Cassell (Orange Lutheran), a Cal State LA commit, scored a team-high 19 points and guard Bridgette McIntyre (Huntington Beach/St. Anthony) added 18 to lead Pirates.

McIntyre sank five of the Orange Coast’s 10 3-pointers en route to being selected tournament MVP.

Orange Coast College featured starting forward Myia Collins (Cypress) and reserve guard Emmeline Law (Irvine). Collins had 20 points and eight rebounds in an 88-66 win against Mt. SAC in the SoCal regional finals.

The Pirates also started Alyssa Dreessen (ML King) and Jordan Arreola (ML King) in the state final, and received key play off the bench from Sabrina Lopez (Etiwanda).

“Our culture is unmatched,” Doucette said, “and culture doesn’t graduate.”

Orange County’s CIF-SS champions were JSerra and Canyon in girls, and Marina and La Habra in boys.

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​ Orange County Register