La Palma gathers for Festival of Nations

• May 1, 2023

La Palma celebrated its community with a hometown parade on Saturday that was followed up with a celebration of global diversity.

The annual Festival of Nations drew crowds to line Walker Street for the parade, cheering as local school marching bands and organizations walked the route.

Then community members filled Central Park enjoying food and performances representing cultures from around the world and playing carnival games and enjoying other activities.

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​ Orange County Register 

Wrexham AFC’s U.S. Tour heads to Dignity Health Sports Park for a meeting with Galaxy II

• May 1, 2023

Wrexham AFC, the lower division club in the English football league system that garnered publicity after actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over as owners in 2020, is coming to Dignity Health Sports Park.

Wrexham, who recently won promotion to the Premier League’s fourth-tier League Two, will face L.A. Galaxy II, the reserve team of the Galaxy, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Tickets go on sale Thursday.

Galaxy II is in its first season in the MLS Next Pro and usually plays its home games in the DHSP Track and Field Stadium. The roster is mostly made up of young first team and players coming up from the academy system.

Wrexham AFC was founded in 1864. The Wales-based club earned its first promotion to League Two since 2007-08. The club finished with 111 points, winning 34 goals of a 46-game schedule and scoring 116 goals.

“We’re looking forward to our U.S. Tour as we gear up for our return to the EFL,” Wrexham coach Phil Parkinson said in a statement. “We’ve enjoyed meeting supporters who have traveled over from America to visit us this season, and it will be a fantastic occasion to play against American opposition in front of more of these new fans.”

The club was highlighted in a recent documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” which aired on FX.

Wrexham’s U.S. Tour will also include stops in North Carolina for a meeting with Chelsea July 19 and Manchester United July 25 in San Diego.

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​ Orange County Register 

Politicians get into position for 2026 California elections

• May 1, 2023

This past week, Eleni Kounalakis announced she was running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “Who?”

Eleni Kounalakis is the lieutenant governor of the state of California. She’s in her second term, actually, having just been re-elected last year.

As of right now, her campaign website (eleniforca.com) is pretty sparse, with a consultant-crafted, buzzword-filled biography of her the only substantive content on the page. You know, stuff like, “She has been a proud leader in California’s fight against climate change and has showcased California’s progress and leadership on a global level.”

It’s both heroic-ish and super vague, because lieutenant governors don’t actually have much power or influence. Kounalakis, in other words, doesn’t have much to tout because, well, there’s not much for her to do as lieutenant governor.

Fun Fact: “In 2019, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis ‘behested’ $300,000 from labor unions to renovate her government office with new furniture and artwork.”

It’s like someone working as a grocery store cashier exaggerating on their resume that they have deep experience “directly interfacing with their organization’s clients, computing complex monetary transactions and ensuring the successful, efficient delivery of goods and services.”

That’s going to be Kounalakis’ whole campaign, basically, when talking about her governing record. Other than serving on some government boards back in the day, she has otherwise previously served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary under President Barack Obama. But ambassadorships, especially to a small country like Hungary,  basically consists of hanging out and hosting dinner parties. So her political record is basically free of contentious, meaningful decision-making.

To say something less critical, though, I have interviewed Kounalakis a couple of times over the years and I’ve found her to be actually smart, which I can’t say for most electeds in California.

Anyway, what made Kounalakis’ announcement interesting was that former California Controller Betty Yee immediately jumped out and said she, too, would be running for governor.

Since I’m now a professional campaign website analyst, Yee’s website (bettyyee.com) is pretty out-of-date, with a banner declaring her intention to run for vice chair of the California Democratic Party, from two years ago.

Betty Yee has been around in government for a while, but I can’t think of any reason why anyone would vote for her besides her family.

My strongest memory of her came toward the end of her time as controller, when transparency group Open the Books sued Yee to provide them with line-by-line spending by California’s government agencies so the public could see for themselves how their money was spent. She refused, stonewalled and fought the request in court, even though all other states made such data available.

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On top of that, under her watch, California was late in submitting state government’s comprehensive annual financial reports. Is that the sort of leadership we need in the governor’s office? Nope.

No to Betty Yee; her record is garbage.

Meanwhile, state Treasurer Fiona Ma is planning to run for lieutenant governor. Ma is best known for championing the California high-speed rail project back when she was in the California Legislature long ago.

It would be one thing if the project Ma championed was actually up and running, as it should have been. But, well, you know. The high-speed rail project is still many years and an extra $100 billion away compared to when it was first proposed.

Ma couldn’t do much damage to California as lieutenant governor, but she’s done enough.

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

CIF Southern Section baseball playoff pairings for wild-card round, first round

• May 1, 2023

CIF-SS BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

All games start 3:15 p.m. unless noted

DIVISION 1

First round

Thursday, May 4

Hart at Notre Dame/SO

Bonita at Arcadia

El Dorado at San Dimas

Rancho Cucamonga at Corona

Mira Costa at Cypress

Sierra Canyon at Bishop Amat

Capistrano Valley at Etiwanda

JSerra at Yucaipa

Warren at Huntington Beach

Damien at Villa Park

Orange Lutheran at Arlington

Harvard-Westlake at Palos Verdes

Ayala at La Mirada

Pacifica at Torrance

Millikan at Maranatha

Foothill at Santa Margarita

DIVISION 2

Wild-card round

Wednesday, May 3

A: Dos Pueblos at Moorpark

B: Northview at Citrus Valley

C: Burroughs/B at Lakewood

D: Monrovia at Great Oak

First round

Friday, May 5

Winner A at Aquinas

Temecula Valley at Capistrano Valley Christian

Crescenta Valley at Ocean View

Winner B at Quartz Hill

Crespi at Grace Brethren

West Torrance at Simi Valley

Santiago/C at Kaiser

Oaks Christian at Mater Dei

Newport Harbor at Gahr

Fountain Valley at Fullerton

Norco at Calabasas

Royal at West Ranch

Paloma Valley at Tesoro

Charter Oak at Woodbridge

Winner D at South Hills

DIVISION 3

First round

Thursday, May 4

Long Beach Wilson at La Serna

Walnut at Buena

Newbury Park at Redondo

Corona Centennial at Yora Linda

Temescal Canyon at Edison

La Salle at Flintridge Prep

Beckman at Long Beach Poly

California at San Marcos

Serra at Tahquitz

Segerstrom at Palm Desert

Redlands East Valley at Summit

Sonora at Riverside Poly

South Torrance at Highland

San Clemente at Cerritos

Westlake at Valencia/V

DIVISION 4

First round

Friday, May 5

Crean Lutheran at Pasadena Poly

Los Altos at Nogales

Chino at El Rancho

Burbank at Elsinore

Arrowhead Christian at Orange

Laguna Hills at Sultana

Chaparral at Adelanto

Malibu at La Habra

St. Bonaventure at Northwood

Anaheim Canyon at Oak Hills

Valley View at Citrus Hill

Glendora at Barstow

Santa Barbara at South Pasadena

El Segundo at Brea Olinda

Ramona at Don Lugo

Hemet at Linfield Christian

DIVISION 5

First round

Thursday, May 4

Bishop Montgomery, bye

Oxnard at Santa Paula

La Palma Kennedy at Montebello

Anaheim at Marshall

Century at Windward

Calvary Chapel/SA at Katella

Pasadena at de Toledo

Victor Valley at Apple Valley

Peninsula at Milken

Whittier Christian at Hillcrest

Liberty at Colton

Salesian at Estancia

JW North at Savanna

Schurr at St. Anthony

Ontario at Village Christian

Carter at Shadow Hills

DIVISION 6

Wild-card round

Wednesday, May 3

A: Rialto at Western Christian

B: Paramount at Vasquez

C: Costa Mesa at Desert Mirage

D: Excelsior Charter at Castaic

E: Santiago/GG at Lancaster

F: Sierra Vista at Arroyo

G: Indio at AB Miller

H: Rancho Verde at Xavier Prep

I: St. Monica Prep at Providence/B

First round

Friday, May 5

Winner A at Bloomington

Winner B at Loara

Winner C at Trinity Classical Academy

Winner D at Oxford Academy

Winner E at Jurupa Valley

Garey at Notre Dame/R

Gabrielino at Mayfair

Winner F at Norwalk

Carpinteria at Desert Christian/L

Winner G at Lakeside

Temecula Parep at Hesperia Christian

Winner H at San Marino

Beverly Hills at Alhambra

Los Amigos at Dunn

Winner I at Campbell Hall

DIVISION 7

Wild-card round

Tuesday, May 2

A: Webb at South El Monte

Q: St. Monica Academy at Fillmore

Wednesday, May 3

B: Winner at Don Bosco Tech

C: Coachella Valley at Desert Chapel

D: Lennox Academy at Valley Christian/SM

E: Acad. Career Exploration at Environmental Charter

F: Shalhevet at Thacher

G: Redlands Advent at Cal Lutheran

H: Littlerock at Acad. Academic Excellence

I: Coastal Christian at Brentwood

J: Santa Rosa Academy at Palm Valley

K: Edgewood at Bethel Christian/R

L: Cantwell Sacred Heart at Hawthorne

M: Oakwood at Calvary Chapel/D

N: Pacifica Christian/OC at Rolling Hills Prep

O: Desert Christian Academy at Artesia

P: Hamilton at Loma Linda Academy

R: Winner Q at Gladstone

First round

Thursday, May 4

Winner B at Ganesha

Winner C at Mesa Grande

Winner D at Newbury Park Adv.

Winner E at Fontana

Winner F at Leuzinger

Winner G at Cornerstone Chr.

Winner H at Nuview Bridge

Winner I at New Roads

Winner J at Banning

Winner K at San Bernardino

Winner L at Cobalt

Winner M at United Christian Acad.

Winner N at Coast Union

Winner O at Villanova Prep

Winner P at Animo Leadership

Winner R at St. Genevieve

.

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​ Orange County Register 

LA Mayor Karen Bass opens Milken Conference, which features John Legend, Ashton Kutcher, Reps. Pete Aguilar and Maxine Waters

• May 1, 2023

BEVERLY HILLS — Mayor Karen Bass, entertainer John Legend, actors Ashton Kutcher and Seth Rogan and Sen. Joe Manchin are among Monday’s scheduled participants at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

Bass will deliver introductory remarks before Legend participates on a panel on the path to reentry after incarceration. Legend founded FREEAMERICA, a campaign seeking to transform the nation’s criminal justice system.

Kutcher will participate in a discussion titled “Head in the Clouds: Embracing the Potential and Promise of Artificial Intelligence,” in his role as a co-founder of the venture capital firm Sound Ventures.

Rogan and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra will participate in a discussion on “Lifestyle Medicine for the Brain.” Rogan and his wife, Lauren Miller-Rogen, founded Hilarity for Charity, a national nonprofit organization providing care for families coping with Alzheimer’s disease.

Manchin, D-West Virginia, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, will be joined by ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods in a discussion titled, “Fueling the Future,” moderated by David Faber, an anchor of the CNBC program, “Squawk on the Street,” broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the start of each trading day.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, will be interviewed by Blair Smith, the senior director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets on “inclusive capitalism.”

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the No. 3 position in the House Democratic leadership, will be interviewed by Dan Carol, the senior director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets, about the topic, “Emerging Market America.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will be interviewed by Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker on the topic “Governing America.”

All of the conference’s public panels will be streamed on the institute’s website, milkeninstitute.org. A complete schedule is available at milkeninstitute.org/events/global-conference-2023/program.

The conference’s theme is “Advancing a Thriving World.”

“As we move away from the pandemic and pivot forward, it’s clear that large portions of the global community do not feel they are thriving,” said Richard Ditizio, the CEO of the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “We are tasking our attending leaders from government, industry, medicine, and the philanthropic community to bring their best thinking toward fixing that — to see advancing as an action verb.

“The willingness of our global constituents to engage so earnestly across a spectrum of issues fuels optimism about the future we can create.”

The Milken Institute bills itself a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on accelerating measurable progress on the path to a meaningful life, with a focus on financial, physical, mental and environmental health.

The conference continues through Wednesday.

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​ Orange County Register 

Do stagnant California credit scores suggest consumer struggles?

• May 1, 2023

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.

Buzz: The average credit score was stable last year in California – as well as across the nation – after a string of previous improvements.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at “FICO” credit scores by state as compiled by Experian, reviewing data for September 2022, September 2021, and 2019’s second quarter. These are estimates of bill-paying ability, scored on a scale from 300 to 850.

Topline

California’s 721 average credit score in 2022 ranked 25th among the states. The same score in 2021 ranked 24th best. The U.S. averaged 714 for both years.

Back in pre-pandemic 2019, California’s average score was 208 (No. 27). That 13-point improvement over three tumultuous years tied for eighth-best in the nation. In the same timeframe, the national score was up 11 points from 703.

Details

There’s a decided north-south split in this U.S. bill-paying metric.

Last year’s best credit scores were found in Minnesota, with a 742 average. Then came Vermont at 736, Washington and Wisconsin at 735, and New Hampshire and South Dakota at 734.

Lowest scores? Mississippi at 680, then Louisiana at 689, Alabama at 691, and Oklahoma and Texas at 693. By the way, Florida was No. 37 at 707.

The biggest three-year improvements were in some fast-growth states: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada – all up 16 points. Texas and Florida both tied California at No. 8 with 13-point improvements.

The smallest gains were in North Dakota (up 6), South Dakota (up 7) and Connecticut and Nebraska (up 8).

But scores didn’t move much in the past year across the nation.

There were 25 states that had no change in 2022, including California. And 14 states had a mere 1-point gain – including Texas and Florida.

And six states had FICO score drops: Connecticut, off 3 points, and Washington, D.C., Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York off 1 point.

The biggest gains? Alaska, up 6, then South Carolina and Utah, up 3, and Arizona, Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho, up 2.

Caveat

Credit scores are by no means perfect indicators of a person’s financial capabilities. But look at 2022 state credit scores to get a taste of what this yardstick tells you about bill-paying potential.

The best was Minnesota’s 742. Experian’s website says 23% of borrowers nationwide with that same score have late payments on credit reports.

California’s 721 is within a group of borrowers having late payments on 29% of their credit reports.

Then there’s Mississippi’s 680, the national low. That cohort had late payments in 36% of their histories.

Another view

California shopper psyche, as measured by April’s Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Indexes, is at a nine-month low and in a deeper funk than the nation.

The overall statewide confidence yardstick is down 8% in a year vs. just a 4% drop nationwide.

A key reason is that economic expectations are dreary, with the Conference Board’s financial outlook measurement down 12% in a year both in California and the U.S.

And the geographic confidence gap comes from views of the “present situation” – with the sentiment about current finances down 2% statewide since April 2022 but up 2% nationally in the same period.

Bottom line

Last year’s stagnant credit scores are hardly bad news, but they are another sign of a cooling economy.

The end of most of the government stimulus plans plus the pain of high inflation forced many consumers to borrow to maintain their aggressive shopping habits. More debt isn’t often good for credit scores.

In the short run, the ongoing spending spree is an economic boost. And the hot job market is a key catalyst to overall economic oomph and credit-score stability.

But flat credit scores are in line with sagging confidence, suggesting there’s a limit on how far shoppers can go.

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

​ Orange County Register 

More Joe in 2024: Political Cartoons

• May 1, 2023

Check out our regular cartoon gallery featuring some of the best cartoonists from around the world, and across the political spectrum, covering current issues and figures.

​ Orange County Register 

Senior living: The rate of older Californians dying of malnutrition has accelerated

• May 1, 2023

By Phillip Reese,

KFF Health News

A growing number of California’s oldest residents are dying of malnutrition, a yearslong trend that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Deaths attributed to malnutrition more than doubled, from about 650 in 2018 to roughly 1,400 in 2022, according to preliminary death certificate data from the California Department of Public Health. The same trend occurred nationwide, with malnutrition deaths more than doubling, from about 9,300 deaths in 2018 to roughly 20,500 in 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Malnutrition is particularly common among older people, especially those who are ill, low-income, homebound or lack reliable access to healthy food or medical services. It can result from not eating enough but also from poor eating habits that lead to nutritional deficiencies. The majority of deaths in California from malnutrition last year occurred in residents 85 and older.

Coronavirus lockdowns, several experts said, likely cut off access to healthy food. Because the oldest people were the most likely to die from COVID-19, officials encouraged them to limit their exposure to others who might have the disease.

“People who may have been reliant on public transportation or reliant on others to get to the grocery store — suddenly they’re nervous to take the bus,” said Lindsay Clarke, senior vice president of health education and advocacy at the Alliance for Aging Research, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. “That family member or friend who would have come to pick them up and take them to the grocery store is worried about having them in their car.”

Pandemic lockdowns also hindered safety net programs that feed seniors. Many adult day care centers closed, for example, eliminating places for seniors to go during the day as an alternative to nursing care. Dr. Louise Aronson, a geriatrician and professor at the UC San Francisco, said seniors who used the programs “may rely on the food they get there as their best meal of the day.”

Malnutrition deaths rose in 2022 even as lockdowns faded. The persistence of the trend, experts said, could be because some of the oldest residents continue isolating.

COVID-19 remains a serious danger for that demographic.

About 5,400 Californians 85 and older died from COVID-19 last year, making it the fifth leading cause of death for that age group — responsible for more than twice as many deaths as diabetes, preliminary state data shows.

“For a lot of people who are older adults and people with disabilities, it’s not really over,” said Trinh Phan, who works from California for the nonprofit Justice in Aging.

Phan said many older Californians are afraid of COVID-19, asking themselves, “Do I actually want to risk that for myself given my own risk factors?”

But while the number of California malnutrition deaths jumped during the pandemic, it had been increasing for years. Some of that increase may be because of the overall aging of the population, experts said.

About 678,000 Californians are 85 or older, a number that increased by roughly 59% from 2000 to 2021, census data shows.

Californians 85 or older accounted for almost three in five malnutrition deaths in the state last year. Those 95 or older make up almost one in five malnutrition deaths, even though only about one in 700 Californians fall within that age group.

“Biologically, we do eat less as we grow older,” Aronson said. “You’re just literally less hungry.”

Older people also have slower metabolisms and digestion than younger people.

“When you’re eating less food overall,” Aronson said, “it’s hard to get all the nutrients you need.”

More factors beyond pandemic lockdowns and an aging population may also be causing the steep rise in reported malnutrition among older people. The rate of malnutrition deaths per 100,000 residents in California among those 85 or older rose precipitously around 2013, jumping five-fold by 2019 and from there, doubling during the pandemic.

Complicating the picture is how often malnutrition appears in conjunction with other illnesses. Older adults are more vulnerable to diseases — such as heart failure, cancer, Alzheimer’s and depression — that can reduce their appetites and lead to malnutrition as a secondary cause of death.

Malnutrition was a contributing cause in 5,600 deaths in California on top of the 1,400 deaths for which it was the primary, underlying cause, provisional CDC data shows. The number of deaths for which malnutrition was a secondary cause of death rose by about 1,700, or 43%, from 2018 through 2022.

“You might be admitted with diabetes but at the same time, you’re also malnourished, and so the malnourishment adds to your problems,” said Paul Brown, a professor at UC Merced who has copresented papers on malnutrition in California at an American Public Health Association conference.

There is also an increased push to recognize malnutrition. Two of the nation’s leading nutrition science organizations released updated guidelines in 2012 to better standardize diagnoses.

The highest malnutrition death rates among older Californians from 2020 to 2022 were in rural or semirural counties: Lake, Merced, Butte, Tuolumne and Sutter.

Older residents living in rural counties, Brown said, often live in “food deserts,” which are areas that lack access to healthy food.

Among large, urban counties, Sacramento had the highest rate of malnutrition deaths among those 65 or older from 2020 to 2022. County spokesperson Macy Obernuefemann said the public health agency helps control and manage chronic diseases often accompanied by malnutrition and that several programs help seniors get the food they need.

Several programs in California seek to lower malnutrition among older people. The state’s network of 33 Area Agencies on Aging often offer healthy meals to older adults, according to Sara Eisenberg, a spokesperson for the California Department of Aging. Organizations such as Meals on Wheels do so as well. The agencies also regularly try to make sure seniors are enrolled in CalFresh, the state’s food assistance program for eligible low-income residents, Eisenberg said.

CalFresh benefits increased in late 2021 by 27%, helping many seniors afford food. A bill in the legislature, state Senate Bill 600, would increase the minimum CalFresh benefits from $23 a month to $50. There’s also a push to expand CalFresh benefits to more undocumented immigrants, many of whom face food insecurity.

“I think that there has been really positive movement,” Phan said.

But enhanced CalFresh benefits that gave millions of people more money during the pandemic expired in late March.

Population trends suggest malnutrition will continue to be a problem. The number of Californians 85 and older, the group most prone to malnutrition, is projected to grow by about 420,000, or 54%, from 2020 to 2030, according to state Department of Finance projections.

Phillip Reese is a data reporting specialist and an assistant professor of journalism at Cal State Sacramento.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. 

​ Orange County Register