I was for DeSantis because he could win. Now, I’m for Trump because he must win

• July 9, 2024

​ Orange County Register 

Niles: The new Six Flags does not need to go cheap to succeed

• July 9, 2024

Six Flags and Knott’s Berry Farm owner Cedar Fair have made it official. The two theme and amusement park companies have merged into one.

The new Six Flags Entertainment Corp. has kept the Six Flags name but Cedar Fair’s corporate headquarters, stock ticker symbol and most of its management team. So far, almost all of the information that the company has released about this deal has been aimed at Wall Street and investors. That’s fine. Investors need to support the deal for the new Six Flags to have any hope of success.

Eventually, the new company will need the support of fans and customers, too. The July 1 closing date for the merger sat in the middle of the operating season for most of the new Six Flags’ theme and water parks. That has meant that, for visitors, it’s business as usual this month at the new Six Flags’ 30 amusement and water park sites across North America, including Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

More from Robert Niles

Knott’s, Universal offer different takes on kids’ lands
Disney needs to look indoors for its theme park future
Disneyland fans have a lot to look forward to on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Disney finds a new challenge in The Bahamas
Annual passes have become a bad deal for theme parks

Fans have a long list of questions about how this merger will affect the operations of their favorite parks going forward. I am sure that the new Six Flags management will want to use this opportunity to consolidate purchasing, licensing and corporate operations to achieve economies of scale. The more that the new Six Flags can standardize its parks, the more money that it might be able to save to help increase the new company’s profits.

But let’s not forget that Six Flags also could boost its bottom line by winning back a lot of the customers who have felt burned by Six Flags and Cedar Fair theme parks in recent years. Slashing capacity, dropping live entertainment and cutting unique food, beverage and souvenir selections cripple a park’s appeal to fans with money to spend. As the new Six Flags management envisions what this mega-chain will look and operate like, allow me to make a pitch on behalf of the fans.

Let each park grow into a unique destination that reflects and serves its local market. Not every park needs to carry the Six Flags name. Let that corporate brand instead stand for a consistently high level of customer service and value rather than a collection of the same attractions from park to park.

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Sure, save money with volume deals from manufacturers. But invest in a creative team that employs people at the company’s sites and who work together remotely to tailor the name and decoration of each new ride, show, restaurant or store to fit each park’s identity.

Just because Six Flags sits in the market as a budget alternative to Disney and Universal does not mean that its parks need to be — and feel — cheap. Run more coaster trains and stop raising food prices to cover for low-priced annual passes. Benchmark with competitors such as Herschend to find how to deliver better value while still undercutting Disney prices.

Fans want to go to Six Flags’ parks not just because they are affordable but because they love them and the experience they provide. Ultimately, the best way to Wall Street success is to win fans’ hearts again.

​ Orange County Register 

Caretaker gets nearly 3 years in prison for sexually assaulting a disabled woman at a Mission Viejo care facility

• July 9, 2024

SANTA ANA — A caretaker pleaded guilty Monday and was immediately sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for sexually assaulting a woman with disabilities at a care facility in Mission Viejo.

Gil Franco Carpentero, 66, of Tustin pleaded guilty to two felony counts of committing a lewd act with a dependent adult by a caretaker.

A woman reported that Carpentero sexually assaulted her on Dec. 20, 2021, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. When Carpentero was arrested two years ago he had been caring for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults for the past 10 years, sheriff’s investigators said.

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​ Orange County Register 

Struggling Angels can’t keep pace with Rangers

• July 9, 2024

ANAHEIM — After the Angels welcomed back a key piece of their team on Monday night and a large chunk of their payroll, the result looked just the same.

Other than a brief surge of offense in the second inning of the series opener, the Angels couldn’t keep up with the hot bats of the Texas Rangers and lost for the seventh time in their past eight games, 9-4, at Angel Stadium.

Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon came off the injured list earlier Monday after missing 69 games with a partially torn left hamstring and the veteran third baseman went 1 for 4 in the leadoff spot with a seventh-inning RBI single.

“He’s a pro, he’s going to figure it out,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “It’s not going to take him long. As a matter of fact, it looks like he’s about ready.”

The Angels figured to perform better against Texas starting pitcher Jon Gray, who came in with a 10.00 ERA in his past four outings, but other than a four-batter stretch in the second inning, the Angels (37-53) did little to press the Rangers.

Still, the Angels managed to score more than one run for just the second time in the past six games, but also surrendered five or more runs for the eighth time in the past nine.

Gray (4-4) allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings, striking out two and walking one. That was enough to help the Rangers (43-48) win their fourth in a row.

Angels starter Davis Daniel (1-2) took another step back in his third major-league start. The 27-year-old right-hander surrendered seven runs and eight hits in 3⅔ innings, striking out three without issuing a walk.

Daniel’s first seven pitches were strikes and 12 of 15 hit the zone in the first inning, but he got burned on a pair of 0-and-2 pitches.

“He didn’t have anything to put them away,” Washington said of Daniel. “He gets two strikes and just couldn’t put them away.”

Rangers leadoff hitter Marcus Semien quickly fell behind to start the game, but dropped a single into left field. Daniel then threw two strikes to Corey Seager before he blasted a 457-foot home run onto the batter’s eye in center for a 2-0 lead.

The home run was the second-longest of Seager’s major-league career behind the 464-foot shot he delivered as a member of the Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 26, 2021.

“He made a real good pitch to Marcus, but he stayed on it and he just pushed it over our shortstop’s head,” Washington said. “Then he got two strikes on Seager and then got the fastball up and he didn’t miss it.”

The Angels answered with four straight line-drive base hits in the second inning to move ahead 3-2.

Logan O’Hoppe started the rally with a one-out single to left, and Brandon Drury hit the first pitch up the middle for another single. Mickey Moniak then roped a line drive just inside the right field line for a two-run triple that tied it 2-2.

Jo Adell followed with an RBI single to left with the infield in to put the Angels in front 3-2.

The Rangers moved back ahead with five runs in the fourth.

Wyatt Langford grounded a double just inside the third base line and Adolis Garcia followed with a single to put runners on the corners.

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Daniel then stumbled as he was making a delivery to Nathaniel Lowe, resulting in a run-scoring balk that tied it 3-3. Lowe then singled up the middle to score Garcia for a 4-3 lead.

After a strikeout and hit batter, Leody Taveras dropped an RBI single into right field. Taveras stole second to put runners on second and third before Semien came through with a two-run single that stretched the lead to 7-3 and ended Daniel’s day.

“They just had a pretty good approach,” Daniel said of the Rangers. “They saw that in my games in the past, I was around the zone a lot, so it looked like they shortened up and took their singles and took advantage of a couple bad pitches. I’ve just got to learn to adjust when they do. Obviously, they came out and made an adjustment in the fourth and I didn’t make the adjustment.”

Langford added a two-run homer in the seventh inning off Carson Fulmer to stretch the lead to 9-3.

Rendon’s RBI single up the middle trimmed the lead to 9-4, but the Angels left the bases loaded in the inning.

Wash discusses the loss@Angels I #AngelsLive pic.twitter.com/9vOZlVB9lj

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) July 9, 2024

MICKEY TIES THE GAME WITH A TRIPLE@Angels I #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/74cJskTQ7P

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) July 9, 2024

Corey Seager blasts one 457 feet to straightaway center pic.twitter.com/EvbE4Yt8Ci

— MLB (@MLB) July 9, 2024

​ Orange County Register 

United Airlines flight loses wheel after takeoff from Los Angeles and lands safely in Denver

• July 9, 2024

LOS ANGELES — A United Airlines Boeing jet lost a main landing gear wheel Monday while taking off from Los Angeles and later landed safely in Denver, the airline said.

There were no reported injuries on the ground or on board Flight 1001, United said in a statement.

“The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event,” the statement said.

The Boeing 757-200 was carrying 174 passengers and 7 crewmembers.

On March 7, a United Boeing B777-200 jet lost a tire mid-air after takeoff from San Francisco. It landed on a car in an airport employee parking lot. Nobody was hurt and the plane landed safely in Los Angeles.

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​ Orange County Register 

Lionel Messi will start for Argentina in Copa America semifinal against Canada

• July 9, 2024

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK — Lionel Messi won’t be stopped by a leg injury and will play in Argentina’s Copa America semifinal against Canada on Tuesday night.

Messi has been dealing with a right leg problem since a group stage victory over Chile on June 25. He missed the first-round finale four days later but played the entire match in the quarterfinal victory over Ecuador last Thursday.

“Leo is good. He will be playing tomorrow,” Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni said Monday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

At 37, Messi has 13 Copa America goals and is four behind the record shared by Argentina’s Norberto Méndez and Brazil’s Zizinho, but he hasn’t scored in this year’s tournament.

“It’s an easy decision for me,” Scaloni said. “It’s a fairly honest decision: I ask him how he feels. If he says ‘I’m not good,’ then he will play the last 30 minutes. When he’s available, he will play.”

Seeking a record 16th Copa America title, Argentina beat Canada, 2-0, in the June 20 tournament opener when Messi set up second-half goals by Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez.

“We didn’t do well enough with Messi last match. He was able to run free at our goalkeeper too much,” said Jesse Marsch, the American hired as Canada’s coach in May. “We all know he’s the greatest player to ever play the game.”

Argentina outshot Canada 19-10, including 9-2 on target, and had 64% possession.

“It’s more of (an) advantage that we were able to play against them than it was for them to play against us,” Marsch said.

Both teams are coming off quarterfinal wins on penalty kicks. Canada, an invited guest from North America, defeated Venezuela.

In the other semifinal, Uruguay plays Colombia on Wednesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. The championship is Sunday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Argentina will have four days of rest, one more than Canada, but both teams are coming off 90-minute matches. Tournament regulations call for extra time to be used only if needed in the final.

Argentina is seeking to win its third major title after the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup and to equal the feat of Spain, which won the European Championship in 2008 and ’12 along with the 2010 World Cup. The Albiceleste are tied with Uruguay for most Copa America titles with 15.

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Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has won four straight shootouts, against Colombia in the 2021 Copa semifinals, vs. the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals and against France in the final, then vs. Ecuador last week.

The 6-foot-5 Martinez, constantly shuffling his feet and a chatterbox trying to distract opponents, saved eight of 18 shots, stopping Colombia’s Davinson Sánchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Cardona; the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis; France’s Kingsley Coman; and Ecuador’s Ángel Mena and Alan Minda.

Canada was eliminated in the group stage of its only World Cup appearances in 1986 and 2022. It won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup after gaining the title of a predecessor tournament, the 1985 CONCACAF Championship.

“We’re playing against the best team in the world,” said Cyle Larin, Canada’s career leader with 29 goals. “We have a lot of speed and power, but I think over those days we’ve been together we’ve been growing.”

AP Sports Writer Eric Núñez in East Rutherford, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Swanson: Ending 213 Era was the only way forward for Paul George, Clippers

• July 9, 2024

Peace out, P.

It’s officially, officially official now – now that Paul George’s tell-all Podcast P episode dropped with all the juicy details Monday about the demise of the Clippers’ 213 Era, the unfulfilling and unlucky pairing of Southern California stars Kawhi Leonard (No. 2) and George (No. 13).

To hear the new Philadelphia 76ers wing tell it, the sides started far enough apart last October that by the time they got within shouting distance this offseason, he didn’t feel like yelling across the remaining divide.

Neither did the Clippers, judging from the offers he said they made, starting with two years for $60 million. “That’s crazy,” George recalled thinking from his perch in the rich and rarefied air occupied by the NBA’s stars.

PG details how contract negotiations with the Clippers affected his decision to leave LA. pic.twitter.com/PU3Z5gZ94z

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) July 8, 2024

He went on to ask for three years for $150 million – similar to the contract Leonard signed in January – but also he wanted a no-trade clause. Those are rare in the transaction-happy NBA, but it’s an understandable request when you look at it from a player’s perspective: “They’re like we want you here long term … we want you to be a Clipper your whole career. So I’m like, ‘Cool, cool.’ Give me three years, $150 (million), no-trade then … then I’m taking less, but at least I know I’m here.”

The Clippers didn’t bite, so George said he threw out four years and $220 million as a counter: “If y’all gonna trade me, then y’all gonna trade me. But at least now I’m not in a situation where I could have got more had I just gone to free agency.”

And so they let him go.

After they brought him aboard to play with Leonard in a trade that sent out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a boatload of first-round draft picks and picks swaps, they let him go for nothing but the optionality, flexibility, possibility.

Because they realized, correctly, that option was better than running it back.

The window on a George-Leonard championship was shutting fast. It might have shut already, save for a miracle.

The Clippers knew that. Their fans knew that. Leonard, 33, and George, 34, had to know it too; PG – the guy negotiating for max-level money – even talked enough about it on his podcast: “I mean, we are old.” And Kawhi didn’t balk when PG called him to tell him he was leaving, just told his pal to go get his payday.

And so the Palmdale native will earn a total of $211 million across the next four years in Philly – a lot of cheesesteak for a player who played in more than 56 games in a regular season just once as a Clipper and who will be 38 before the contract expires.

The Sixers talked themselves into believing George can be the missing piece to help the also-oft-injured Joel Embiid and young star guard Tyrese Maxey compete for a ring, the Moses Malone to Julius Irving on the 76ers’ 1983 championship squad, or so Dr. J told PG: “He was like, ‘P, you’re the missing piece.’”

Maybe.

More likely, George will enjoy a hot stretch during the regular season and we’ll hear pundits and fans deriding the Clippers’ decision. But then there will come a lull, and it will likely be when the pressure is on and expectations are highest, probably during the playoffs.

Imagine Philadelphia fanatics’ reaction to a seven-point playoff game like the one George turned in during a first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks last season. Or another string of games when he’s limited by unfocused foul trouble – followed, of course, by Princess and the P analysis on the podcast about how uncomfortable and hard the job can be when a two-way star is asked to do so much dirty work (ie. rebounding and defending).

“Yeah, they can be rowdy,” George said of the Sixers’ fans he’s about to meet. “I’ve heard the stories of them getting on their players … but that’s good pressure. That’s pressure you want.”

We’ll see.

Just like we’ll see what the Clippers do next. How can they do right by their loyal, less-demanding but long-suffering fan base? How will they, under the new CBA’s constrictive apron rules, fill the 22.6-points-per-game void left by George?

So far, they’ve added Derrick Jones Jr. and Kevin Porter Jr. and are reportedly working to add Kris Dunn, young, athletic supporting characters who would make for a robust roster around a pair of future Hall of Famers – if Leonard and Harden were entering their prime and not exiting it.

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As it is, it’s hard to picture this unit, as currently constructed, hosting many playoff games at the new Intuit Dome.

Maybe they add some offensive firepower yet? Maybe those trade rumors involving them and New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram and Chicago’s Zach LaVine transpire?

Will they maneuver – as they worked to do several seasons before they called 213 to order – to make another substantial, starry splash by inviting aboard players like Anthony Edwards or inviting Gilgeous-Alexander back when those guys hit free agency – if they do?

We don’t know, and that’s OK.

Because when it’s broke, you fix it – and you can’t do it when you’re handcuffed to a fading star.

​ Orange County Register 

Authorities search for man suspected of robbing a bank in Mission Viejo

• July 9, 2024

Authorities were searching for a man suspected of robbing a Mission Viejo bank and attempting to rob a bank in Ladera Ranch on Monday, July 8, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.

Deputies responded to the first bank around 12:41 p.m. after the suspect presented a note to a teller at a bank in Ladera Ranch, located in the 27000 block of Crown Valley Parkway. The man left the bank without getting any money, Sgt. Matthew Parrish said.

Around 1 p.m., the suspect, whose description was not released, targeted a second bank in the 26000 block of Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo. After presenting the teller with a note, the suspect left with an undisclosed amount of money.

The robbery and attempted robbery are believed to be related, Parrish said.

No injuries were reported.

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​ Orange County Register