Leaving California: What’s the best state to move to in 2023?

• October 17, 2023

During the past two years, 1.6 million Californians left for other states.

I figured they might want some help choosing a new place to live. So, I embarked on my “Leaving California” voyage — seven columns ranking the potential of other states for ex-Californian wannabes.

My trusty spreadsheet examined stats on state economies, demographics, health, climate and politics to weigh appropriate landing spots. The 49 other states were graded for costs, wellness, jobs, fun, culture and safety. And just to make sure I didn’t goof, other “best state” rankings also were reviewed.

What did I learn? When those seven scorecards were combined, the top state for an exiting Californian was New Hampshire. It scored three, top-five grades among the seven rankings.

Next on my scorecard for a highly compatible California exit were Utah, Minnesota, Utah, Idaho, and Washington.

At the other end of this spectrum, the top state to avoid was Mississippi. It had four grades in the bottom five. The next lowest were Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and New Mexico.

And by the way, some states that are popular destinations for Golden State exits scored middling grades: Florida was No. 17 while Texas was 28th. Plus there’s Oregon (No. 26), Arizona (No. 27), and Nevada (No. 34).

EXODUS SLOWDOWN?: California exits drop 3%, arrivals rose 10%. READ HERE!

As you digest this scorecard, think about the variety of folks who might bolt from the Golden State. It’s a flock that includes young adults just starting out, families seeking better opportunities and seniors seeking a cheaper place or slower pace.

Yet no scorecard can fit any one person’s exact needs. These rankings are broad compilations of various medians, averages and indexes – mathematical cliches for the commoner.

These grades, at best, speak to the “typical” Californian. You tell me who that is?

The math

This best-place-to-relocate scorecard reflects my spreadsheet’s seven previous rankings of the 49 other states. These 2023 gradings looked at the pros and cons of places for a Californian’s relocation.

Here’s what those rankings found …

Best bargain: Where would your dollars go the furthest, mixing incomes and cost of living? The top states were Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Illinois and Utah. The worst? Hawaii, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Mexico and Maine.

Healthiest: Where will you find ideal medical services and statewide wellness? Tops were Massachusetts, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Jersey and Maryland. Worst? West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Best job market: For those seeking employment, where is your best chance at a solid paycheck? Tops were Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Texas. Worst? Connecticut, Rhode Island, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

Most fun: Where’s the best mix of indoor entertainment and outdoor activities? No. 1 is Florida, then Hawaii, Massachusetts, Colorado and Minnesota. Last for leisure was Indiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Kansas and Kentucky.

AFFORDABILITY: Who can afford to live here? What’s being done? CLICK HERE!

Best culture: Where can you find the most anti-California vibe? The best fits were in South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Idaho. And New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois had the worst scores.

Safest: Where might you feel the most secure from risks of crime, climate or collisions? Tops were Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island. Worst? Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

Other ‘best’ grades: As a double-check of my thinking, other “best state” rankings were reviewed. My composite “best of best” said the top states were New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Minnesota. At the bottom were Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Mexico and Alabama.

Bottom line

Do not forget that scorecard creators are human.

Look, there’s bias in any “best state” scorecard no matter how hard an author tries. The choice of data and how the math is applied can sway the final results – intentionally or not.

Let’s contrast my relocation rankings with the “best of best” composite grades I created from other similar scorecards.

Four states got the same grades, including No. 1 New Hampshire plus Nebraska (15), Oregon (26) and West Virginia (41). Seven others had a one-rank difference: Montana (my No. 24 vs. No. 25 “best of best”), Tennessee (31 vs. 32), Kentucky (44 vs. 43), New Mexico (45 vs. 46), Alabama (46 vs. 45), Arkansas (48 vs. 47), and Mississippi (49 vs. 48).

Politely speaking, there seems to be lots of agreement on where Californians should NOT go. For 14 states, however, there was a gap of 10 ranking spots or more.

My grades were far kinder to Utah (No. 3 for me vs. No. 21 “best of best”), Idaho (4 vs. 18), Maryland (10 vs. 23), South Dakota (11 vs. 22), North Carolina (19 vs. 30), Georgia (23 vs. 34), Arizona (27 vs. 37) and Texas (28 vs. 38).

Meanwhile, I was harsher on Vermont (No. 16 vs. No. 2 “best of best”), Maine (20 vs. 8), Connecticut (21 vs. 11), New York (32 vs. 13), Delaware (35 vs. 20) and Ohio (43 vs. 33).

My excuse? Well, it appears I primarily favored states with strong anti-California vibes.

Remember, though, I had a built-in bias. My goal was to find the best state for a departing Californian.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

Leaving California?

Which state ‘culture’ is your best alternative?
Where do ‘best state’ rankings tell you to move?
What states are the safest places to live?
Here are the healthiest states to consider
If you want ‘fun’ lifestyle, here are states to move to
States with the strongest job markets
What state is the best bargain?

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​ Orange County Register 

Niles: Price hikes show that Disneyland needs some changes

• October 17, 2023

October brings a new fiscal year — and a new round of theme park price increases — for The Walt Disney Company. But Disneyland visitors have every right to question why they got it so much worse this year than fans of Walt Disney World.

At Disneyland, the company raised the price of daily tickets up to 15.7% and Magic Key annual passes up to 21.5%. Meanwhile, at Walt Disney World, annual pass prices increased up to just 10%, while the Florida resort held the line on daily ticket prices.

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Walt Disney World also further relaxed reservation requirements for its parks while bringing back all-day Park Hopping, starting in January.

One is tempted by these numbers to assume that attendance has been much stronger in California than in Florida. The company has suggested as much in its recent earnings calls, even though Disney does not release specific attendance numbers for its theme parks. While that’s good news for the Anaheim-area economy, Disneyland’s Magic Key holders may be left wondering if they ever will get the freedom from reservation requirements that Walt Disney World’s annual passholders soon will enjoy.

Personally, I hope that they won’t.

Removing Magic Key reservation requirements would create a disaster for Disneyland fans. The reservation system has helped the park avoid much of the evening gridlock that plagued Disneyland before the pandemic lockdowns forced Disney to change its annual pass system. One way or another, Disneyland needs to cap the number of people in the park, and it does not want to risk turning away out-of-town visitors. That makes capping Magic Key attendance a must.

But there is another way — just do away with annual passes. With date-specific daily tickets and no Magic Key, requiring advance reservations would become unnecessary. Without tens of thousands of Magic Key passholders visiting the park daily, Disneyland likely would have to reduce daily ticket prices to fill its parks, making the resort a more attractive destination for lucrative out-of-town tourists and infrequently visiting locals.

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Theme parks introduced annual passes to encourage loyal fans to visit more often. Their fixed price means that the cost per visit drops each time a passholder returns to the park. But when Disneyland is raising ticket prices the way that it just did, an annual pass system becomes counter-productive. Why raise daily ticket prices and potentially drive tourists away so that the park has space for passholders who are visiting 30, 40 or 50 times a year?

Disneyland can serve its loyal local fanbase with seasonal discounted multi-day tickets, such as it offered twice earlier this year. And if it really wanted to reward frequent visitors, Disneyland could introduce an annual pass for vehicles, charging something like $150-200 for parking on non-holiday dates throughout the year. Implement license plate reading for that, and the resort could speed up the lines at its parking tollbooths, too.

I would hate to see Disneyland become a place that welcomes wealthy Magic Key holders dozens of times a year while no one else can afford to visit. But that seems to be the resort’s future if something doesn’t change.

​ Orange County Register 

Construction starts on Be Well OC mental and behavioral health services hub in Irvine

• October 17, 2023

With the success of its first location in Orange, Be Well OC will be bringing its mental health and substance abuse treatment services to Irvine with the construction of its newest campus.

Be Well OC officials were joined by local leaders and community members to celebrate the groundbreaking on what will become a 75,000-square-foot facility on 22 acres of county-owned land on Marine Way, not far from the Great Park. The campus will provide services such as a mental health urgent care center and a sobering center, as well as residential and outpatient programs. Another area is planned for family supportive programming.

The first phase is expected to be completed in March 2025, and the rest to be completed September 2025. The facility will be open to Orange County residents, regardless of what insurance they have or their ability to pay, though requires a referral.

“It’s a beautiful day to celebrate Orange County’s commitment to a world class behavioral health system,” said Rick Afable, chairman of Mind-OC, a nonprofit that focuses on accessible care for all, and interim CEO of Be Well OC. “The Be Well Irvine campus will offer an enhancement to the county system with an additional 150 beds for adults, adolescents and families across treatment programs, ranging from crisis services to residential care for mental health and substance use disorders.”

Scott Anderson, guest services coordinator at Be Well OC, knows firsthand how valuable the center’s services are.

“This was around COVID time. I was going through a little bit of a mental health issue, and I didn’t necessarily know how to cope,” Anderson said. “I worked in the restaurant industry for six years and restaurants were shut down. I had recently gotten out of a relationship and I was depressed. I was isolating myself, and the only thing that I resorted to was drinking.”

Anderson said he tried an outpatient program, but his drinking started up again after and got progressively worse. His mom had heard about Be Well OC, a private-public effort to provide mental health care opening in Orange, and gave him an ultimatum: Get help or get out.

“For me, the answer was obvious. I knew I didn’t like living how I was living and the feelings I was feeling, the withdrawals, the pain, the suffering. It was just getting worse,” Anderson said. “So I said I want help. And I went in the car and she drove me to Be Well.”

Anderson detoxed for 11 days in the sobering center before a spot in the residential program opened up.

“I was basically taught that I’m not alone, and that was the biggest thing for me,” Anderson said. “I isolated myself and my pain, my sorrow, and Be Well showed me that I am not alone in this fight and that there’s help out there.”

Anderson said he is excited for the program’s expansion into Irvine to serve more of the county, especially since it will be larger than the campus in Orange. 

“I think this type of movement is what is needed in the community,” Anderson said. “I couldn’t be happier about this campus in Irvine and to be able to help more people, because as we know there’s never enough beds for people who want to go to treatment. Just being able to increase the amount of beds and resources is just amazing.”

The new center was made possible with funding from county, state and federal leaders. The OC Board of Supervisors approved $40 million toward the project, and an additional $15 million was provided by CalOptima Health. A $37.6 million grant came from the state’s Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, $12 million in state funding was secured by Assemblywoman Cottie Petri-Norris and $2 million in federal funding was secured by Congressman Lou Correa.

The first Be Well OC campus got a $16.6 million boost from the Board of Supervisors and $11.4 million from CalOptima, with $12 million in contributions from private donors and major hospital systems.

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“It is a testament to the foresight that goes into the planning of this facility and indeed the entire Be Well concept,” Third District Supervisor Don Wagner said. “This is what happens when we work innovatively and collaboratively together to bring about improvements that will benefit the people of Orange County regardless of their economic status.”

Fourth District Supervisor Doug Chaffee said the goal is easy access to mental health and wellness care for every resident of the county. There is more to do, Chaffee said, and he looks forward to finding a location for a third facility in north Orange County that has always been part of the plan. Be Well OC also has mobile response teams that provide services in five Orange County cities.

The slogan for the Be Well OC is “Hope Happens Here,” and Mind-OC board member Rabbi Richard Steinberg said the mission is for that to continue on with this new campus.

“We pray that Be Well will continue to fix the world one person at a time,” Steinberg said, “taking their broken universe, giving them healing, giving them blessing, and ultimately giving them hope.”

​ Orange County Register 

Hamas’ massacre of Jews in Israel boosts anti-Semitism on California campuses

• October 17, 2023

Everyone in academe knows anti-Semitism is the world’s oldest bigotry. But at colleges across California and the nation, this prejudice has become increasingly acceptable and visible in the days since the Oct. 7 massacre of hundreds of Israeli Jews by the terror group Hamas.

In many campus demonstrations, students have screamed that the mass slaying of more than 1,200 men, women, children, babies, the elderly and unarmed concert goers was purely the fault of Israel. But it was not Israel that put maps showing the locations of baby nurseries and schools in the hands of killers from the Hamas terror organization.

Meanwhile, college administrators were exposing their own weakness and timidity.

None of this is new in California, where members of a group called Students for Justice in Palestine (SPJ) have a long history of harassing Jewish students who express sympathy or support for Israel, the world’s only country that is expressly a Jewish homeland.

Most such on-campus episodes have been conducted or supported by SPJ, whose first chapter, at UC Berkeley, was founded by “financial patrons…connected to Islamist terror organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. Listed among the founders is UC Berkeley Prof. Hatem Bazian.

SPJ has long claimed it is not anti-Semitic; merely anti-Israel. But applauding the murder of dozens of babies slain solely because they were born Jewish is a pure form of anti-Semitism.

Among other episodes, SPJ once set up a fake checkpoint near Berkeley’s Sather Gate campus entrance, using cardboard guns to stop and frisk anyone they believed to be Jewish. No one was expelled or even reprimanded for this.

At Stanford University, according to a federal discrimination lawsuit, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program in the student counseling service “advanced anti-Semitic tropes concerning Jewish power, conspiracy and control, and endorsed the narrative that (most) Jews support white supremacy.” In fact, Jews were leading supporters of civil rights in America long before the Freedom Riders of the 1960s, where they made up about half of all white participants.

After the Hamas massacre, SPJ members and supporters at Stanford hung banners on campus saying, among other things, that “The illusion of Israel is burning.” SPJ published a column in the Stanford Daily calling Hamas’ actions, including butchering of babies, “part of the ongoing struggle…”

As on other campuses, there were also graffiti claiming “Israel was solely responsible.” This essentially accused the victims of responsibility for their own murders.

Perhaps the most infamous October campus incident occurred in a Stanford freshman class where an instructor ordered Jewish students into a corner reserved for “colonialists.” The same instructor trivialized the murder of Jews, reportedly asking Jewish students how many died in the Holocaust. When one replied “6 million,” the instructor reportedly responded, “Oh, is that all?”

Stanford quickly pulled the instructor from classes while it “investigates.”

What’s been the overall response of university leaders at the most sought-after California campuses, people charged with maintaining safety for all students, including Jews and Palestinians?

Stanford’s top officials made a brief statement saying they were “deeply saddened by the death and human suffering.” They also said pro-Hamas banners were OK, but should be relocated elsewhere on campus.

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Lambasted for this response, Stanford’s acting president and provost later ate a Sabbath dinner in the Hillel Jewish student center to demonstrate their sympathy. Even so, the response amounted to little.

UC officials were equally tepid. Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said “…We decry any calls for violence in any form or support for terrorism as we continue to mourn the loss of innocent life…”

And UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said “…We must be vigilant that we do not allow anguish over what is occurring internationally to turn into resentment or mistreatment of our fellow Bruins…”

None mentioned possible action against perpetrators of anti-Semitic actions. This was consistent with UCLA’s never acting against students who once hounded a Jewish student into resigning an elected campus government post she had won.

And so, as is common around the nation, there is no sign yet that any major California campus will even try slightly to prevent the further spread of anti-Semitism.

Email Thomas Elias at [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

CIF-SS boys and girls cross country rankings, Oct. 16

• October 17, 2023

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The CIF-SS boys and girls cross country rankings released Monday, Oct. 16.

Compiled by PrepCalTrack.com

BOYS DIVISION 1

1 Great Oak

2 San Clemente

3 Mira Costa

4 Trabuco Hills

5 Beckman

6 Crescenta Valley

7 M.L. King

8 Millikan

9 Redondo Union

10 Aliso Niguel

11 Loyola

12 Warren

13 Rancho Cucamonga

BOYS DIVISION 2

1 Ventura

2 Santa Barbara

3 Glendora

4 Newbury Park

5 Hart

6 Woodbridge

7 El Toro

8 Tesoro

9 El Dorado

10 Ayala

11 La Serna

12 Foothill

13 Canyon/Anaheim

BOYS DIVISION 3

1 Dana Hills

2 Santa Margarita

3 West Ranch

4 Thousand Oaks

5 Redlands East Valley

6 Moorpark

7 Oak Park

8 Agoura

9 Corona del Mar

10 Canyon/Canyon Country

11 Mission Viejo

12 Capistrano Valley

13 West Torrance

BOYS DIVISION 4

1 St. Francis

2 JSerra

3 Palos Verdes

4 St. John Bosco

5 Foothill Technology

6 South Pasadena

7 Cathedral

8 Oaks Christian

9 Harvard-Westlake

10 Rim of the World

11 Burroughs/Ridgecrest

12 La Canada

13 El Segundo/Fillmore

BOYS DIVISION 5

1 Ontario Christian

2 St. Margaret’s

3 Woodcrest Christian

4 Viewpoint

5 Brentwood

6 Windward

7 Hawthorne MSA

8 Crossroads

9 Flintridge Prep

10 Desert Christian

11 Samueli Academy

12 Heritage Christian

13 Providence

GIRLS DIVISION 1

1 Santiago/Corona

2 Trabuco Hills

3 Saugus

4 Vista Murrieta

5 Great Oak

6 Redondo Union

7 Santa Monica

8 Mira Costa

9 San Clemente

10 Chino Hills

11 Huntington Beach

12 M.L. King

13 Los Alamitos

GIRLS DIVISION 2

1 Ventura

2 El Toro

3 Claremont

4 Murrieta Valley

5 Ayala

6 Citrus Valley

7 Newbury Park

8 Canyon/Anaheim

9 Tesoro

10 Woodbridge

11 La Serna

12 Westlake

13 Peninsula

GIRLS DIVISION 3

1 Dana Hills

2 West Torrance

3 Yorba Linda

4 Shadow Hills

5 Santa Margarita

6 North Torrance

7 Oak Park

8 Thousand Oaks

9 Capistrano Valley

10 Moorpark

11 South Torrance

12 Fullerton

13 Pacifica/Garden Grove

GIRLS DIVISION 4

1 JSerra

2 La Canada

3 Oaks Christian

4 South Pasadena

5 Palos Verdes

6 Harvard-Westlake

7 Laguna Beach

8 Rim of the World

9 Fillmore

10 Orange Lutheran

11 Covina

12 Burroughs/Ridgecrest

13 Bishop Amat

GIRLS DIVISION 5

1 St. Margaret’s

2 St. Lucy’s Priory

3 Western Christian

4 Providence

5 Sage Hill

6 Viewpoint

7 Samueli Academy

8 Hawthorne MSA

9 Pasadena Poly

10 Flintridge Prep

11 Ontario Christian

12 Temecula Prep

13 Chadwick/Linfield Christian

​ Orange County Register 

Swanson: It’s Monday Night Frustration for Chargers’ offense

• October 17, 2023

INGLEWOOD — Revenge is a dish served cold. But the Chargers misunderstood the assignment.

Because they froze up on the big stage. Monday night’s showcase game became an exercise in futility for the Chargers’ new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore against the Dallas Cowboys, the team whom he’d coached the previous eight seasons before they parted ways in January.

It was a Monday Night Flunk.

The Chargers lost, 20-17, at SoFi Stadium, replicating the score of a loss to Moore and his old crew two seasons ago in L.A.

That time, Dak Prescott drove Dallas down the field for a game-winning field goal. This time, Justin Herbert, under pressure all night, finally succumbed on the Chargers’ last drive.

He was sacked for the first time on second down and then intercepted a play later, a whimper in tune with the Chargers’ offensive output for most of the contest.

After scoring a touchdown on their opening drive, the Chargers (2-3) passed on a field-goal gimme opportunity, going for it on fourth-and-1 at the 7-yard line with 7:47 to play in the third quarter – and coming up empty when Herbert couldn’t connect with Joshua Palmer in the end zone.

The Bolts scored only one more touchdown after that, a nifty play call freeing up tight end Gerald Everett for a 1-yard touchdown catch with 7:15 to play.

Otherwise, it was Monday Night funk for a stagnant offense that had, at times, shown signs of forward progress in Moore’s first season in L.A.

For one, Herbert had turned over the ball just once before Monday. And coming in, the Chargers’ red zone touchdown percentage was much improved: 68.8% (fifth in the NFL), while Dallas’ was 36.8% (28th).

The Bolts also showed up for work Monday ranked fifth in the league in total offense (388.8 yards per game) and sixth in passing (269.0).

But against the Cowboys (4-2), Moore wasn’t exactly living up to the allegations about him, not quite cutting that swashbuckling figure that Dallas coach Mike McCarthy claimed him to be after the split in January, when the coach said in an interview that his former offensive coordinator was focused on wanting to “light the scoreboard up.”

“I want him to run the damn ball so I can rest my defense,” McCarthy went on. “I think when you’re a coordinator, you know but you’re in charge of the offense. Being a head coach and being a play caller, you’re a little more in tune with (everything). I don’t desire to be the No. 1 offense in the league. I want to be the No. 1 team in the league with the number of wins and a championship.”

On Monday, the Chargers ran the damn ball almost as often as Dallas (23 carries vs. 26) – but to little avail, even with Austin Ekeler healthy and back on the field. The Bolts gained only 53 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, Herbert never could get comfortable, completing 22 of 37 pass attempts for 227 yards, the two TDs and the deciding interception with 1:29 to play.

And Moore – under whom the Chargers were averaging five more offensive points per game than last year, while the Cowboys had been scoring an average of 5.2 fewer – wasn’t able to derive a benefit from any insider knowledge of his former team.

The Chargers scored their fewest points of the season, as Herbert failed to complete even 60% of his passes for the second consecutive game.

“I missed a couple receivers, I threw some bad passes,” said Herbert, the fourth-year signal caller who signed a five-year, $262.5 million contract extension before the season.

Herbert blamed himself and embattled head coach Brandon Staley credited Dallas: “It was a high-level game between two teams that are really, really good.”

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And really, really good at drawing penalties: The Chargers had nine of them for 79 yards and Dallas was called for 11 for 85 – a trend that didn’t help either offense find a rhythm.

Including Moore’s.

He’d said more than once that he wasn’t out for vengeance Monday, telling reporters this week: “I think a lot of that stuff is pretty overrated. At the end of the day, It’s getting on the field and playing 11-on-11.”

But c’mon. He’d have liked it if the Chargers lit up the scoreboard with a big scoring statement.

Instead, it was Monday Night Frustration, and the neon, flashing message, as delivered by Herbert postgame: “There’s a lot to work on, a lot to improve on.”

​ Orange County Register 

NLCS: Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos power Phillies past Diamondbacks in Game 1

• October 17, 2023

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper smashed the first pitch he saw on his 31st birthday into the seats, Kyle Schwarber hit his first homer of the postseason and Nick Castellanos also went deep again to power the Philadelphia Phillies past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night.

Harper held up three fingers on his left hand and one on his right and pretended to blow them out like candles on a cake as he crossed the plate. Harper, who also walked, scored twice and knocked in two runs, hit his 10th homer in two postseasons with the Phillies.

“I’ve always wanted to play on my birthday,” he said before the game.

Zack Wheeler struck out eight in six innings to help the defending NL champions win their seventh Game 1 of the last two postseasons. Wheeler sawed two bats in half during the first two innings, leaving the Diamondbacks with more pieces of busted lumber than hits through five.

José Alvarado got four big outs on 15 pitches and Craig Kimbrel worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

Arizona was stuck with its first loss of the postseason after ripping off five straight wins against the Brewers and Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks were simply the latest team to unravel under the red storm of 45,396 towel-waving, deliriously cheering fans at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies never gave fans a reason to stop – or a chance for Arizona to catch its breath until it was too late.

Schwarber started the home run derby when he launched Zac Gallen’s first pitch 420 feet into the right-field seats. There was some minor consternation that Schwarber – with 47 homers this season and 93 over the last two – had yet to go deep through six playoff games. How easy it was to forget that Schwarber didn’t hit any in the Wild Card Series or NLDS last season before he launched six in the NLCS and World Series. So those Schwarbombs might just be getting started.

“We know what type of guy Schwarber’s going to be for us. He’s huge in that 1 spot,” Harper said. “There’s never a doubt on how good he’s going to be. We’re excited to see what he can do in the NLCS and as we go.”

Four pitches later, Harper homered – the first time in 127 postseason games that Philadelphia went deep twice in the first inning.

When Castellanos lined his fifth homer of the playoffs in the third – all in the past three games – it gave the Phillies 32 home runs in 13 postseason games at Citizens Bank Park over the last two years.

The Kelce Bros approved. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce – minus celebrity friend Taylor Swift – and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce went wild. Travis pointed to his brother as Jason pounded a beer in their suite.

Gallen, a South Jersey native, had his name derisively drawn out to “Galll-ennnn” by Phillies fans each time the 17-game winner got into a jam. Too many times, for Arizona.

Trea Turner hit a one-double in the third, leaving first base open. Gallen pitched to Harper instead of walking him and got burned by an RBI single for a 4-0 lead.

J.T. Realmuto added an RBI single in the fifth.

“Gallen, he’s been throwing the ball well all year. Just tried to get on top of him as much as we could, score early,” Harper said. “Schwarber starting the game off right there was huge for us.”

Those runs proved crucial for the Phillies. Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-run homer off Wheeler in the sixth that made it 5-2.

Seranthony Domínguez opened the door in the seventh for the Diamondbacks when his throwing error on a comebacker led to an unearned run. Alvarado retired pinch-hitter Emmanuel Rivera on a groundout to keep it 5-3 and tossed a scoreless eighth.

SNAKE EYES

The Diamondbacks, who at 84-78 squeezed into the playoffs as the final NL wild card, were held to four hits.

GOING DEEP

Schwarber’s fourth leadoff homer in the postseason moved him past Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter for most in baseball history.

Harper joined St. Louis’ Kolten Wong, Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria and Kansas City’s Willie Aikens as the only players in postseason history to homer on his birthday.

Castellanos’ five homers in his last three postseason games – he hit two in consecutive games against Atlanta — made him the second player to hit those marks. New York Yankees slugger Reggie Jackson did it in the 1977 World Series.

UP NEXT

Arizona sends right-hander Merrill Kelly (1-0 postseason, 0.00 ERA) to the mound for Game 2. Right-hander Aaron Nola (2-0 postseason, 1.42 ERA) will start for the Phillies.

Nola is eligible for free agency after the World Series after he tabled contract extension talks with the team in spring training. Nola made $16 million this year on the club option that was part of the $45 million, four-year deal he signed ahead of the 2019 season. Nola said he wanted to stay in Philadelphia.

“I hope so. I really do,” Nola said before the game. “I love it here. Obviously, it’s the only place I’ve been. I came up through some special times in the rebuilding era ask and getting to witness and be a part of a lot of different type of teams.”

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Ana rent registry becomes legal liability

• October 17, 2023

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act extending protections in housing to everyone regardless of race, religion, national origin or sex.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development created standards for how many people should be able to occupy a rental unit.

The 1974 Consumer Privacy Act was passed to protect the privacy rights of consumers when it comes to how data is collected and used.

California’s 2018 Consumer Privacy Protections were established to prevent the misuse of personal data.

Despite this, the city of Santa Ana has put the rights of tenants at risk.

Rent registries are not new, but typically they are limited to information about rent levels and increases associated with each unit being provided by the rental housing provider. Santa Ana’s registry, however, requires disclosing much more intrusive information. Under the penalty of perjury, rental property owners and operators must disclose to the city specific details about each unit – and their tenants.

The city of Santa Ana is mandating submission of all documents that a rental property owner or operator provides to their tenant as part of their private business transactions – including the actual lease agreement, addenda, notices, and any other documents the city deems necessary.

The city also wants to know the names, phone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information for each resident in each rental unit – regardless of whether they are on the lease agreement.

Possibly, most shocking of all, the city of Santa Ana is also requiring rental property owners or operators to disclose – again, under penalty of perjury – the preferred language of the individual(s) in each unit.

In other words, the city wants to create a registry that asks tenants and property owners to provide evidence of potential violations:

The Fair Housing Act by asking for information related to the tenant’s race, ethnicity, or nationality.
The Housing and Urban Development standards by collecting information on every tenant or occupant.
The Consumer Privacy Act by providing private contracts between property owners/operators and tenants.
The California Consumer Privacy Protection Act by providing personally identifying information.As problematic as this policy is, considering how it could be used – or abused – is even more troubling.

The Guardian exposed in 2022 how interagency sharing of data between local, state, and federal jurisdictions is one of the key ways that law enforcement tracks their cases – agencies that include U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Use of the Patriot Act has long been a concern of the American Civil Liberties Union – and so has the expansive use of data collection such as this.

More poignantly, in 2021 the Harvard International Review examined the use of AI and public and private databases as a method for identifying and tracking down suspects. The city of Santa Ana is feeding right into this practice with its rent registry.

Governing, the journal for municipal government, covered this issue extensively as far back as 2017, identifying the liability that municipalities face when government data breaches occur. These liabilities quickly run into the millions of dollars, not to mention the impact of individuals being exposed to identity theft.

The city of Santa Ana is assuming a great deal of financial liability if its rent registry database is breached and/or its contents exposed or shared inappropriately. American Express, United Airlines, Amazon, Microsoft, Bank of America and countless other major and minor corporations have all had to pay millions upon millions of dollars in settlements when their data was exposed – and consumers were hurt.

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You may also recall the Orange County Transportation Authority and the Transportation Corridor Agency paying out approximately $200 million in a 2021 class action lawsuit settlement stemming from their improper sharing of customer’s personal information with third parties, including debt collectors and other public agencies.

What is worse is that if you go back and read or watch the testimony given by members of the public at the time the city’s rental stabilization and just cause eviction ordinances were being considered, you will hear these very same concerns being raised.

Santa Ana tenants, housing providers, and taxpayers deserve better from their government. Tenants have a right to have their private information protected. Rental property owners and operators should not be compelled to provide their or their tenants’ personal data to the city. And taxpaying residents and businesses should not be on the hook for hefty penalties, fines, and financial settlements resulting from poorly prepared policies.

Chip Ahlswede is Vice President of External Affairs at the Apartment Association of Orange County.

​ Orange County Register