Garfield Medical Center nurses protest low staffing, lack of training

• May 12, 2023

Jennifer Huynh is confident in her role as an ER nurse at Garfield Medical Center.

But that confidence is stretched thin when she’s forced to provide longer-term care for patients because of chronic understaffing.

“My specialty is to treat people coming into the ER,” the 32-year-old Alhambra resident said. “But they will sometimes end up staying for several days because there aren’t enough nurses and nursing assistants. My job is not specialized in taking care of patients for that long.”

SEE MORE: Healthcare workers rally for higher pay, more staffing under Senate Bill 525

Huynh’s frustration is echoed by nurses throughout the Monterey Park facility. Many say they’re being shifted to other areas of the hospital where they may not have the familiarity and training needed to provide adequate patient care.

Nurses are also calling for increased security at the medical center. One nurse said a patient hit her in the face with a cell phone, knocking her to the ground. (Photo courtesy of SEIU Local 121RN)

The situation prompted them to picket the facility early Friday, March 12 to get their message out.

Armed with whistles and picket signs, nurses chanted “What’s this about? Patient care!” as they circled back and forth in front of the building.

Representatives with Garfield Medical Center could not be reached for comment Friday.

The hospital’s 350 nurses are represented by SEIU Local 121RN. Their contract expired March 31 their next bargaining session will be held May 24.

The medical center is owned by AHMC Healthcare Inc., which operates nine California healthcare facilities, including five in the Los Angeles area.

Nurses are also calling for increased security at Garfield, and no one wants that more than Christina Smith.

“I was hit in the face with a patient’s cell phone,” said Smith, who has been a registered nurse at the facility for 35 years. “She hit me as hard as she could and knocked me to the ground. It was very traumatic, both physically and mentally.”

The situation began when the patient wanted to leave the hospital.

“She was upset and wanted to go home, but we told her she couldn’t go until someone arrived to pick her up,” Smith said. “She got all hyped up and ran to the elevator and kicked a male nurse in the leg. Then she wanted to run in front of a moving car. That’s when she turned around and hit me with her phone.”

Huynh said the hospital is having trouble keeping both experienced and new nurses because it’s assigning them to tasks they haven’t been trained to do.

“That’s stressful for nurses, and it’s outright dangerous for patients,” she said.

Smith said employees are also calling for higher wages so enough nurses can be recruited and retained.

“They bring in new nurses and train them, but they’re gone in a year because wages are so low,” she said. “I’ve been at Garfield for 35 years, and the money I’m making here would be the same as someone who worked just eight years at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center.”

Friday’s picket came on the heels of another rally that drew hospital janitors, medical assistants, resident physicians and nursing home caregivers to Pasadena on Thursday to urge passage of SB 525, which would boost staffing for California healthcare workers and raise their minimum wage to $25 an hour.

Healthcare workers at CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center also staged a rally last month to protest short staffing and the impact it has on patients and employees.

That event was part of a series of statewide gatherings highlighting the dangers of not having enough employees on hand to provide adequate medical care and prevent employee burnout.

​ Orange County Register 

BTS K-pop star Suga brings his solo show to the Kia Forum

• May 12, 2023

When the K-pop boyband BTS announced in June 2022 it was taking a break for a few years, fans of the most successful South Korean act ever were distraught.

No more stadium tours until 2025 at the earliest? Jin, and then J-Hope, entering the South Korean military to complete mandatory military service, with the other five BTS boys – Suga, Jimin, RM, V, and Jungkook – eventually to follow?

Well, that’s not the world into which the BTS Army, as fans are known, enlisted.

All of which made the arrival on stage of Suga, the first of the BTS boys to tour as a solo artist, a sensation when the 30-year-old rapper-singer appeared in Inglewood on Thursday for the second of three sold-out shows at the Kia Forum this week.

Here was at least one of the guys, and until all seven might someday reunite, that was enough for fans, some of whom – judging by the signs and flags they carried – crossed continents to be there.

The Agust D tour takes its name from the pseudonym Suga uses for solo projects – Agust D is the reverse spelling of Suga and the initials DT for Daegu Town, his birthplace.

The concert and solo album “D-Day,” released April 21, explore questions of personal identity and self-awareness. Three moody noir-like videos introduced different sections of the show, each of them representing a different part of the performer: Min Yoon-gi, his birthname and life pre-fame, Suga, the beloved BTS boy band member, and Agust D, his solo persona.

“Haegeum” opened the show, the first of 19 songs over nearly two hours. Unlike the BTS shows that have filled massive stages at SoFi Stadium, the Rose Bowl, and the then-Staples Center in recent years, this was a stripped-down affair.

Instead of seven performers singing and rapping while conducting tightly choreographed dance moves, Suga danced alone, a looser kind of stage prowl familiar from many other rap shows. The colorful suits and costumes of BTS were traded for an all-black look of baggy pants, a short-sleeved tunic over a long-sleeved T.

His floppy haircut was a natural black in place of the teal, lavender, orange, blue and blonde hairstyles of BTS.

And the fans, as we’ve noted, adored him, screaming at ear-piercing volumes the opening notes of new songs – “D-Day” sold over a million copies worldwide on its first day – and old favorites – the new record is his third solo release, and the set included a handful of BTS songs on which Suga was the featured vocalist.

After fast, aggressive solo numbers such as “Daechwita” and “Agust D,” Suga slowed the pace with gentler tunes including “Trivia: Seesaw,” a BTS song he performed seated, accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar that appeared to have been signed by the other BTS-ers.

As with BTS, Suga’s solo material is sung primarily in Korean, with occasional English lyrics in a chorus or verse. The new “SDL” revealed the meaning of its title as fans loudly sang its English chorus: “Yeah, somebody does love / But I’m thinking ’bout you.”

(Possibly a less successful lyrical mashup –  at least the combining of those last three letters – came during the chorus of “Agust D,” which goes, “A to the G to the U to the STD.”)

Act I ended with “Burn It,” a fast rap song that drew screams from the crowd when they realized the American singer Max was there to perform live the parts he contributed in the studio.

After another video, the second half opened strongly with the BTS song “Interlude: Shadow,” the opening English lyrics – “I wanna be a rap star / I wanna be the top” – leaving no room for misunderstanding.

A medley of rap numbers, most of them also by BTS originally, was wildly received by fans whose BTS light sticks flashed green and red in sync with the high-energy performance here.

Then a pair of piano-based songs slowed things down. For “Life Goes On,” a solo number that samples the BTS song of the same name, Suga played piano at the front of the floor-level area of the stage.

For “Snooze,” on which composer Ryuichi Sakamoto had contributed piano, a clip of Suga with Sakamoto paid tribute to the Japanese musician who died March 28, the screen going dark but for the words “I wish you are in peace on your long journey” at the end.

The main set ended strongly with “Amygdala,” one of the highlights of the “D-Day” album, which saw Suga alone on a platform, flames rising behind him, singing of confronting such real-life traumatic memories as his mother’s heart surgery, his father’s liver cancer, and finding a way to move past his sadness and fears.

The encore delivered three songs – the title track of “D-Day,” the BTS number “Intro: Nevermind,” and the aptly named show-closer “The Last” – but a line from “Amygdala” felt like a way to view this strange interregnum in which Suga and BTS now find themselves.

As he sang in “Amygdala” of his earlier life, “What didn’t kill me only made me stronger / And I begin to bloom like a lotus flower once again.”

Suga is the second-oldest member of BTS and surely that means his military service will follow the end of this solo tour, likely in months not years. He’s laid down his marker now as a performer, in and out of the band. When he returns, he’ll be just fine.

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​ Orange County Register 

Alyssa Thompson balancing school and soccer as rookie for Angel City FC

• May 12, 2023

Alyssa Thompson continues adjusting to life as a professional soccer player who is also in her senior year of high school.

Thompson is heading into her final month as a high school student at Harvard-Westlake High and there’s also work, which for her is as a forward for Angel City Football Club.

She’s still working on the multitasking.

“Sometimes it’s hard to manage and sometimes I feel like I got it down, it’s kind of day-by-day,” she said. “Right now, Angel City is really helpful with my school stuff, while getting me acclimated to the environment, which has been really nice.”

“It’s definitely hard, but nothing too bad. I’m taking it day by day, working hard in training, then going to school and working on my school work, then going home and being able to be with my friends and family.”

Alyssa added that one difference this season is playing without her sister Giselle.

“When I’m home, it’s easy to just go to go to soccer and then back home and have that balance,” she said. “When I’m away, it’s a little harder because I’m just playing soccer and doing school work. That’s when it sometimes feels the most isolating, mainly because I’m not with my family. That’s kind of normal, but I haven’t been away from them for that long in a while.

“Also being away from my sister, because we would do a lot of things together regarding soccer. I’ve always felt like I had family with me everywhere I went, and that has changed this year.”

Gisele Thompson was recently added to the U.S. U-20 National Team for the CONCACAF Championships later this month in Dominican Republic. Gisele spent time in preseason training camp with Angel City as a trialist.

One of Alyssa’s goals this season is to make the World Cup roster. Her name was mentioned as potentially being called into U-20 camp, since she is age-eligible for the tournament. However, she wasn’t selected, with the focus remaining on the World Cup roster.

“There were conversations, but right now, while she’s playing as many minutes as she is for us and we like to think she’s still being considered for the senior team,” said Angel City coach Freya Coombe said. “The decision was made for all of us that she stays in the club environment.”

On the field, Thompson has been causing defenders problems. She was the NWSL’s Rookie of the Month for March/April and she’s had a goal in each of the last two league games. She leads Angel City (2-2-2, eight points) with three goals heading into Saturday’s game against the Washington Spirit at BMO Stadium (7 p.m., Paramount+).

“She’s been playing really well. She has definitely been able to make an impact early in games,” Coombe said.” We’re seeing some variation of her game in terms of the spaces that she’s attacking and where she looks threatening.

“She continues to get faced up, and cause problems for defenses, as well as take her opportunities, as we’re seeing with her goals. We’re seeing her develop in a defensive capacity, improving on both sides of the ball. Her defending is increasing and getting better as the weeks go on.”

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​ Orange County Register 

3 people on plane missing near San Clemente Island are identified

• May 12, 2023

The Phoenix Air Learjet with three people aboard that went missing Wednesday near San Clemente Island was on a U.S. Navy training exercise, according to their employer.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Thursday. Officials said they had searched 334 square miles and found a debris field but no signs of any survivors after the plane went missing Wednesday morning about a mile southwest of San Clemente Island.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Joint Harbor Operations Center in San Diego received the initial report of a downed aircraft at 7:53 a.m. Wednesday from Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility San Diego, reporting an aircraft emergency aboard the plane.

“The entire Phoenix Air Family grieves over this loss of our friends and fellow employees,” Phoenix Air Group, Inc. of Cartersville, Georgia said in a statement.

The company identified the employees as Eric Tatman, Spencer Geerlings and Shane Garner.

Phoenix Air Group said the missing plane was one of two Learjets participating in the U.S. Navy training exercise. The other jet landed safely.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircraft and the USS San Diego diverted after hearing the emergency broadcast and began searching the area, the Coast Guard reported.

Also, an MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew from Coast Guard Sector San Diego and the crew aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward, a 154-foot Fast Response Cutter homeported in Los Angeles/Long Beach, were launched and led the search.

Additionally, a U.S. Air Force C-130, multiple U.S. Air Force land and surface assets from 68th Rescue Squadron, and a U.S. Navy MH-60 Romeo helicopter from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron were launched and assisted in the search.

The area near San Clemente Island where the aircraft was reported down is considered part of Los Angeles County, and is south of Catalina Island.

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​ Orange County Register 

CIF-SS softball playoffs: Updated schedule for Saturday’s semifinals

• May 12, 2023

Updated schedule for the CIF Southern Section softball semifinals Saturday, May 13.

CIF-SS SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY’S GAMES

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 2

Grand Terrace at Tesoro, 3:15 p.m.

DIVISION 3

Kennedy at Capistrano Valley, 1 p.m.

Corona Santiago at El Toro, 3:15 p.m.

DIVISION 4

Burbank Burroughs at Fullerton, 3:15 p.m.

Foothill at Santa Fe, 3:15 p.m.

DIVISION 5

Santa Paula at Irvine, 10 a.m.

Liberty at Northwood, 1 p.m.

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​ Orange County Register 

Trump sexual assault verdict a rare moment of accountability

• May 12, 2023

By Maryclare Dale | Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Cassandra Nuñez and her grandmother cast their first ballots in a U.S. presidential election in 2016. She was a first-year college student; her grandmother, a newly minted citizen. They both hoped to elect the first woman president over a man who bragged about grabbing and kissing women at will.

But Donald Trump became president, and it would be nearly seven years before a Trump accuser could press her claims at trial. This week, jurors in a New York civil case said they believed that Trump sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll in a dressing room in the 1990s — making him the first U.S. president found liable by a jury in a sexual battery case. The panel awarded her $5 million in damages.

“It’s a victorious moment, but why did the people of the United States let this happen?” said Nuñez, now 25, of Los Angeles, noting the number of sexual misconduct accusations against Trump during the campaign and since his election. “It’s kind of late.”

The verdict — a rare moment of accountability for a former president and powerful men like him — comes as women across the U.S. ponder the cultural landscape amid sweeping threats to their hard-won progress, including Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016, the Supreme Court’s repeal of abortion rights last year and the uneven success of the #MeToo movement.

Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA, called it an ambiguous time for women.

“It’s very hard to feel at this moment that the accounting, the reckoning that we need has yet happened,” she said. “I feel this is a small step in the right direction.”

Some may find “yet another day contemplating the behavior of Donald Trump just feels like a colossal waste of attention,” Williams said. But she believes it’s important to address “the everyday abuses of power that have real consequences for victims.”

With a string of investigations swirling around Trump, the sex-abuse case — a civil verdict, with no criminal prosecution possible — hit only so hard across a news-weary America. Nuñez followed the trial and discussed it with a few colleagues at her public relations job. For others, the news barely hit their radar, if they were aware of the decision at all, even as Trump campaigns for the presidency again.

“Trump’s long list of scandals makes any single moment seem less surprising,” said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “What might certainly derail other candidates or elected officials meets an eye roll among many Trump detractors — and only further mobilizes Trump supporters around the idea that this is a ‘witch hunt’ against him.”

Carroll this week savored the outcome of the lawsuit she filed the day New York, like some other states, opened a one-year window for adults to file suit over old sexual assault claims. Advocates say it can take years for victims like the 79-year-old advice columnist to move past their sense of shame and go public. But it’s often too late, as it was for her, to pursue criminal charges.

Trump dismissed the accusation as a way to boost sales of Carroll’s 2019 book, “What Do We Need Men For?”

But Carroll, in the wake of the verdict, said the case was never about money. She said she only hoped to clear her name, one the jury — in awarding nearly $3 million for defamation — agreed Trump had sullied.

Trump, in hours of deposition questioning, denied he knew Carroll despite photographic evidence, and he denigrated her as “not my type.” He also mused that celebrities had gotten away with sexually abusing women for centuries, “unfortunately, or fortunately.”

Trump doubled down on his insulting, often misogynistic rhetoric about women in a CNN Republican town hall Wednesday evening, mockingly calling Carroll a “wack job” in a comment that drew glee from the New Hampshire audience.

The day after his inauguration in January 2017, millions of people around the world took part in a Women’s March to protest his rise to power. Many sported bright pink hats that were the brainchild of the Pussyhat Project — a cat-eared design meant as a wry clapback to Trump’s infamous comments on women’s genitals.

“The Women’s March demonstrated that we are watching,” Williams said. “But in terms of the scope of sexualized violence, a $5 million fine to somebody who commands immense resources and will certainly not show that this does any material harm to him, there’s a grotesque imbalance with this outcome.”

Los Angeles screenwriter Krista Suh, who helped launch the Pussyhat Project, is not sure Tuesday’s verdict strikes a death knell for Trump’s political career.

“He’s very good at skirting the truth, and I’m just not sure this verdict pins him down, but it definitely helps,” the 35-year-old said.

The crowd at the Women’s March in Washington included an anonymous observer from Toronto: Andrea Constand, whose sexual abuse claims against actor Bill Cosby would soon go to trial.

In the years that followed, she would see Cosby convicted, sent to prison and then released when his conviction was overturned on appeal. Amid that setback, and the inability of victims like Carroll to pursue criminal cases, she believes the civil court process can alone be effective. Constand had received $3.4 million from Cosby in a civil settlement in 2006, long before the criminal case was reopened, and she used the money to rebuild her life and career.

“If that’s what it takes to get justice and you have no other option, then it is about the money, because the money helps you heal and move forward and accomplish things that you haven’t been able to accomplish because you’ve been gripped by your trauma,” she said.

Despite the jury’s view that Trump is a sexual offender, millions of women would likely still vote for him given the chance in 2024, to maintain the country’s social, economic or racial order, Williams said. More than half of white women voted for Trump in 2020.

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“There are people that like Trump’s brand of masculinity. They like the bravado, they like the confidence, they like a certain type of patriotism, they like the performance of a certain kind of virility,” Williams said. “So when these episodes of sexual misconduct come out, I think people are willing to give it a pass.”

For Nuñez, Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 was “a double whammy” given his behavior. His presidency, and later the #MeToo movement, spanned her time in college at Loyola Marymount University. She sees progress in small victories, like when her workplace required sexual misconduct training.

“These beginnings give me hope that one day when I have my own children,” she said, “leaders will be held accountable for all their actions, and all types of violence against women will not be tolerated.”

​ Orange County Register 

Angels RBI league teaches fourth-graders core values by playing baseball

• May 3, 2023

Integrity, commitment, determination and persistence are a few of the nine core values that fourth-grade students at Garden Grove’s Iva Meairs Elementary School will be learning over the next seven weeks — but not in the classroom.

They will learn them playing baseball as part of the Angels RBI League on the Go program.

Angels RBI League President Dave Smith will be instructing the fourth-graders once a week on the basics of baseball and softball.

“We teach them life skills and character development and have some fun playing baseball,” Smith said. “Jackie Robinson had nine core values and those values are the pillars of our program.

“If it is integrity, play with integrity. If you didn’t catch the ball it’s OK. Just say you didn’t catch the ball. You’ll catch the next one,” Smith said. “If it’s persistence, if you swing the bat and don’t hit the ball every time that’s OK. Most players don’t hit the ball every time. Be persistent, and you’ll hit the ball and have fun.”

On the first day of the program, each student received a free Angels glove, jersey, tote bag and baseball cap.

“The beautiful thing about this program is it’s free,” Smith said. “Some of them will be introduced to the game for the first time, and (it will be) the first time they held a baseball. We don’t want it to be scary for them, so we’re going to do some fun things.”

When asked what she liked best about the program, 10-year-old Jade Fernandez said it was catching the ball and throwing it. “My favorite part is when we got in a circle and threw the ball in the air and whoever dropped it had to sit down.”

At the end of the first day’s lesson, students packed their new gear into their bags then received fist-bumps from Smith as they headed back to their classroom.

“It was fun,” Anna Loung, 10, said. “I got good at throwing and catching the ball.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Judge must reconsider effort to block Catholic diocese libel suit, appellate court rules

• May 3, 2023

A trial court must reconsider its denial of a motion to block a libel suit stemming from an email allegedly containing a false insinuation that Diocese of Orange Bishop Kevin Vann used Orange Catholic Foundation funds to cover legal expenses for clergy accused of child sex abuse, a state appellate court has ruled.

Suzanne Nunn, former interim executive director of the foundation, sent the email to 47 Catholic leaders throughout the country after Vann unilaterally terminated her and the organization’s board of directors in June 2020.

In the three-page email that bore the subject line, “You can’t make this stuff up,” Nunn asked a series of rhetorical questions regarding her firing and that of the board.

“Is this considered a hostile take-over to distribute funds the diocese needs to cover debt? Lawsuits?”  she asked, according to the appellate court. “Is this an overstep of authority? Is this the result of fatigue from the economic impact of the COVID crisis in addition to other financial stress? No one knows, it certainly was not shared or discussed prior to the removal of the foundation board.”

The foundation’s former board members reported Vann to the Holy See for allegedly acting beyond his authority and violating state and church law.

Vann and the diocese’s chief financial officer, Elizabeth Jensen, sued Nunn for libel and emotional distress, alleging the email implied they had committed a crime and engaged in unethical activities.

Nowhere does the email state that the bishop and Jensen planned to use Orange Catholic Foundation funds to litigate sexual abuse claims, according to the appellate court.

Vann and Jensen allege Nunn sent the email to repair her damaged reputation and increase potential job prospects with other Catholic institutions. They demanded that Nunn issue a retraction, but she did not respond.

Nunn filed a motion to strike the libel suit under California’s Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or anti-SLAPP, statute.

The statute, enacted by the state legislature in 1992, aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits that arise from protected activities such as the right to petition and engage in free speech.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Frederick P. Horn denied Nunn’s anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the libel suit after finding the complaint did not arise from protected activity.

Court disagrees with trial judge

Last week, California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal disagreed with that ruling.

Nunn’s email addressed several issues impacting the public, including Vann’s alleged attempt to access millions of dollars in donations despite donor agreements restricting the use of those funds as well as his purported “take over” of the Orange Catholic Foundation’s board of directors, the court concluded.

Neither Nunn nor her attorney could be reached for comment. Vann declined to discuss the appellate decision.

“However, the well-developed factual record speaks for itself, and Bishop Vann looks forward to receiving the trial court’s decision in the near future,” Jarryd Gonzales, a spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, said Tuesday.

Jensen’s attorney, Andrew Prout, also declined to comment.

The nonprofit Orange Catholic Foundation was established in 2000 to support the philanthropic and charitable goals of Orange County’s Catholic community. It manages millions of dollars in charitable gifts, grants, donations, endowments and bequests, and uses funds to support Catholic charities, ministries, parishes and schools.

Many of the foundation’s donors earmark contributions for specific purposes and funds are distributed in accordance with each donor’s desire.

“Orange Catholic Foundation exists in large part to support the diocese in fulfilling its mission, which includes helping the needy,” the court said, adding it is fully independent of the diocese and is governed by an autonomous board of directors.

Vann, as the foundation’s sole member, has the authority to remove any board member who fails to act in accordance with the organization’s bylaws.

Diocese asks foundation for funds

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to rage In March 2020, forcing the shutdown of Catholic schools and worship services and prompting a drop in tuition payments and collections, Jensen asked the foundation to provide $12 million to offset a working capital deficit at the diocese, according to the court.

“Nunn declined the request and explained that Orange Catholic Foundation did not have any undesignated funds,” the court said. “According to Nunn, Jensen replied that Orange Catholic Foundation had buckets of money.”

Three days after the request, Jensen purportedly sent a letter to the foundation’s chairman asking for about $2.6 million from endowment funds to cover the financial needs of parishes and schools in light of the “unprecedented times.”

The foundation declined the diocese’s request for funds, but in April 2020 agreed to allocate $1.5 million to support churches and schools most impacted by the pandemic shutdown, said the court.

Two months later, Vann held a Zoom meeting with the Orange County Foundation’s executive committee. However, what transpired during the meeting is in dispute, the court said.

The bishop claimed that he expressed disappointment in delays in the search for a permanent executive director and the lack of progress in establishing a strategic plan for the foundation.

However, Nunn alleges Vann told the executive committee she was a liar, had caused irreparable damage by refusing to invade endowment funds and demanded that she be fired.

Board fired without warning

On June 19, 2020, Vann fired the foundation’s entire board without notice and then appointed a new board, which terminated Nunn’s contract and appointed a new interim executive director. The new board also began efforts to hire a permanent executive director.

The appellate court has remanded Nunn’s anti-SLAPP motion to Orange County Superior Court.

​ Orange County Register