German shepherd Zelda is a ‘wicked smart’ girl

• May 4, 2024

Breed: German shepherd

Age: 2 years old

Size: About 65 pounds

Zelda’s story: Pregnant Zelda came to German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County when no one else would help her. After her puppies found homes, she was ready for her own. She is “wicked smart,” according to the rescue, and eager to learn. She’s energetic but controlled. She’s great with friendly dogs (not sure about cats), petite in stature and eager for someone with whom she can bond. She’s fully vaccinated, microchipped and free of any parasites.

Adoption donation: $375

Adoption procedure: Contact German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County at 714-974-7762 or fill out an application online.

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​ Orange County Register 

Sting rocks the hits and Dirty Heads deliver a beachy vibe on day one of BeachLife

• May 4, 2024

Under a chilly night sky with thousands of fans eagerly waiting on the turf field in front of the main stage, with his bass guitar strapped around his wide shoulders and looking incredibly fit in a tight t-shirt and white jeans, rock icon Sting walked nonchalantly onto the stage at BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach.

The crowd almost didn’t seem to notice the former frontman for The Police until he started his epic hit-filled set with a song that was fitting for the beach-loving fans, “Message in a Bottle.”

“Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, another lonely day with no one here but me,” the 72-year-old legend sang as the crowd ate it up and sang along.

Yet day one of the South Bay’s biggest festival was anything but lonely for the thousands of music fans who attended the three-day event.

Besides Sting, the Friday lineup included Dirty Heads, Seal, City and Colour and several other acts on four stages. And as has become the tradition for BeachLife, day one set the relaxing and laid-back tone that continues throughout the weekend at the festival, which aims to celebrate beach culture, art, food and, obviously, music.

With the Seaside Lagoon parking lot transformed into a park-like setting thanks to lush green turf, people played cornhole, ping pong and beer pong with big red plastic cans instead of cups. Some sat on couches and bean-bag style cushions in front of the main stage or sang karaoke between sets.

Many, like Utah resident Holy Hartman, laid on blankets on the turf just absorbing the sun once the early morning clouds moved on.

“I’m just having a good getaway and relaxing. It’s just a place where you can lay down and enjoy the atmosphere or get up and dance when you want to,” said Hartman, who was reading a self-help book on the grass in the early afternoon.

Over at the Lowtide stage, which is closer to the ocean, some people walked barefoot on the sand right in front of the stage, or hung out on hammocks. Music fans ate well too, thanks to food options that included Le Burger by Michelin-starred restaurant Camphor, and the always popular Spicy Pie pizza, which has pretty much become a sought-after culinary headliner at festivals like Coachella, Stagecoach and others.

But the day was really about the music with some very memorable sets happening on the smaller stages.

Sporting a brown cowboy jacket with tassels, brown slacks and cowboy boots, Texas-based singer Abraham Alexander thought most festival-goers would probably have no idea who he was as he opened the small Riptide stage by the festival entrance with his 3 p.m. set.

But with his soulful voice and blues and R&B-drenched love ballads, he quickly attracted attendees entering the festival who made a right turn to hear his music instead of walking on by to the main stage area. His new fans were then slowly swaying their shoulders and nodding their heads to Alexander’s music.

“I feel great. You’re coming to a festival where practically no one knows who you are but at this festival they make it in such a way that people get to discover new artists. I felt people were really into the set and what I was saying and doing,” he said after his hourlong set.

And keep an ear out for Alexander because he just released his debut record and is getting ready to head on the road with blues rocker Gary Clark Jr., who previously performed at BeachLife in 2021

Meanwhile at the Speakeasy stage, where punk-rockers and others perform stripped-down versions of their music, Warren Fitzgerald, the guitarist for The Vandals, had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand with a lighthearted set of some of The Vandals best songs including “My Girlfriend is Dead,” “Money’s Not an Issue,” and “It’s a Fact.”

Dressed in pink pants and pink polo shirt with a green vest on, he almost looked like a singer at a kid’s birthday party, especially since he ended his set with his version of “Baby Shark.” But his fans were passionate and waited for him after his performance to take pictures or talk him up about his music and The Vandals.

“This is just me doing a lot of The Vandals songs that I love. I don’t do it very often and it’s very scary and I said, Why not,’ and it was fun,” he said.

But why end it with “Baby Shark?”

“I call it irritatement. It’s like entertaining and irritating at the same time and that will linger with everyone all day long,” he said with a laugh.

The feeling of being on vacation lingered later on at the Lowtide stage where the Dirty Heads, who combine rock, reggae and rap, performed a 7 p.m. set during what some refer to as the “golden hour” of a festival, where the sun starts setting and the day slowly dims into the evening.

The band played hits like “Lay Me Down,” “Medusa,” and perhaps one of the most crowd-pleasing songs of the night, their cover of John Walsh’s catchy reggae-driven hit “Life’s Been Good.”

It had many fans feeling pretty good about their day.

“I feel like I’m on an island or something hearing them on the sand, like where’s my coconut drink?,” said Long Beach resident Patricia Gomez as she danced to “Life’s Been Good.”

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But the night clearly belonged to Sting.

“It’s my first time in Redondo Beach,” he told the crowd.

According to festival officials his BeachLife performance was Sting’s first SoCal festival appearance in more than 20 years. And he left his mark on the festival with a performance that included classic hits like “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Fields of Gold,” and “Roxanne,” and others.

The festival continued Saturday with Incubus and Devo and Sunday with  ZZ Top and My Morning Jacket as the main acts.

​ Orange County Register 

Clippers face questions after another season ends early

• May 4, 2024

The idea was to build a contender and titles will come. Bring in stars and high-level talent and meld them into a seasoned lineup and championships would follow.

But in the years since the 213 Era began, championships haven’t materialized – only injuries and heartache. The Clippers experienced more of the same Friday night when they were pushed out of the NBA playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, who completed a 4-2 series victory with a 114-101 romp in Game 6 of the first round.

In the end, one star was missing, another didn’t show up and Paul George struggled to carry the load when it mattered.

In the end, the Clippers couldn’t do it without Kawhi Leonard, who, after his healthiest season in nearly a decade, sat out four of the six games because of a nagging swollen knee, missing largely his fourth consecutive postseason.

In the end, it was Dallas’ attack, led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, that destroyed the Clippers, who couldn’t stop the onslaught and reduced James Harden’s effectiveness in the second halves of the final two playoff games.

And in the end, the Clippers, who finished the regular season 51-31 and fourth in the tough Western Conference, went home empty-handed.

Again.

But now what? Will owner Steve Ballmer settle for more of the same? Can the richest owner in the league afford to rely on Leonard, 32, George, 34, and Harden, 34, for another season?

Leonard secured a three-year, $153 million contract extension in January, which keeps him in a Clippers uniform through 2025-26.

George can decline his $48.8 million player option for next season and become a free agent this summer, a situation being watched closely by the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers have made it known they are interested in acquiring the nine-time All-Star.

George said he hasn’t focused on anything besides the playoffs at this point.

“I got a lot to kind of digest myself, so I haven’t even got to that yet,” he told reporters in Dallas. “Look forward to kind of going back, just letting everything kind of decompress, talk to my family, be around family support and then address the next step.”

Harden will be a free agent this summer and could seek a max contract, something that he sought – and didn’t get – with the 76ers. He has indicated he prefers to stay in L.A.

“I don’t even know,” he said after Game 6. “You are asking a lot of questions that I don’t have the answer to or haven’t even thought about.”

Then there is coach Tyronn Lue, who hopes to sign a contract extension instead of seeking jobs elsewhere. His name surfaced as a possible candidate to replace Darvin Ham, who was fired Friday as the Lakers coach.

“I didn’t come here to bounce around and go all over the place,” Lue said. “This is where I want to be. Hopefully, [the Clippers] feel the same way.”

The Clippers are likely to exceed $200 million in payroll next season, which would restrict their offseason spending because of the second apron. And will it all be for another season that ends in a whimper?

Bad playoff losses have defined the Clippers since Leonard and George joined the team and Game 6 punctuated that notion, ending what started out as their most promising season to date.

This season was supposed to be different. Leonard and George, who ended the previous season on the bench with injuries, were healthy. Leonard played in 68 games, his most in seven years since his days as a San Antonio Spur.

They traded for Harden, costing them role players Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris and KJ Martin and multiple first-round draft picks yet giving the team another dimension. The transition wasn’t seamless, the Clippers losing their first six games with him. After that rough start, though, the three-time scoring champion found his place alongside Leonard and George and the Clippers got rolling.

They won 26 of 31 games during one stretch, creating a championship buzz around one of the highest-paid – and oldest – teams in the NBA. Then came the All-Star break and the talk turned into online chatter of “what happened?”

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Losses began to creep in. The Clippers struggled to figure out how to fix things, finally turning the corner shortly before the postseason. But then Leonard’s knee flared up and he missed the final eight regular-season games.

It would be a harbinger of the postseason as the team, without its scoring leader, went belly-up against the younger, more aggressive Mavericks.

Now, with their new Intuit Arena in Inglewood debuting later this year, will it be the same story for the Clippers, one of big promises and small returns?

​ Orange County Register 

UCI chancellor says plans are to continue discussions Monday with student protesters

• May 4, 2024

UC Irvine chancellor told the campus community in a Friday night message that university officials intend to continue discussions with student protesters who formed a Gaza solidarity encampment earlier in the week.

Though more demands have been made in a counterproposal received Thursday – some of which he said “can be easily met” but some “challenge the very core of our mission” – Chancellor Howard Gillman said in the released message he remains “optimistic that we will be able to arrive at a mutually agreeable resolution of this situation.

“At this time, we are scheduled to continue our discussions on Monday,” he said, adding the encampment that has been near Rowland Hall since Monday has remained peaceful – which he said the students protesters have helped ensure.

“As long as this remains the situation, there is no cause to involve law enforcement, except as needed to help ensure the safety of the protestors and others in the area,” he said.

Sarah Khalil, a student organizer, said the chancellor’s email is not an accurate explanation of what’s been happening on campus and the way it was put out was not right.

“We are not leaving until all of our demands are met,” Khalil said. “We want all of them to be met, not some of them.”

The pro-Palestinian encampments that have formed at campuses around the country, including UCI and also Chapman University in Orange County, have generally called on universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel and weapon manufacturers.

Those encamped at UCI have asked for donations of supplies to help sustain their effort.

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County restaurants shut down by health inspectors (April 25-May 2)

• May 4, 2024

Restaurants and other food vendors ordered to close and allowed to reopen by Orange County health inspectors from April 25 to May 2.

Kitchen at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach

Closed: May 1
Reason: Cockroach infestation
Reopened: May 2

Texas Pit Bar-B-Que, 24601 Raymond Way, Suite 2, Lake Forest

Closed: April 30
Reason: None provided

San Clemente Sushi Co., 305 S. El Camino Real, Suite 102, San Clemente

Closed: April 30
Reason: Rodent infestation
Reopened: May 1

Zankou Chicken, 2424 W. Ball Road, Suite T, Anaheim

Closed: April 29
Reason: Cockroach infestation
Reopened: April 30

Orange County Pizza, 21612 Plano Trabuco Road, Suite G, Rancho Santa Margarita

Closed: April 29
Reason: Insufficient hot water
Reopened: April 30

Golden Rose Mediterranean Cuisine, 7115 Beach Blvd., Buena Park

Closed: April 29
Reason: Rodent infestation
Reopened: April 30

CTB Eatery, 9904 Westminster Ave., Suite B, Garden Grove

Closed: April 25
Reason: Rodent infestation
Reopened: April 27

John’s Incredible Pizza Co., 8601 On The Mall, Buena Park

Closed: April 25
Reason: Cockroach infestation
Reopened: April 26

Royal Wok, 1868 N. Tustin St., Orange

Closed: April 25
Reason: Cockroach infestation
Reopened: April 26

Cho Tam Bien, 9906 Westminster Ave., Suite B, Garden Grove

Closed: April 25
Reason: Rodent infestation
Reopened: April 27

Seoul Haus, 13925 Yale Ave., Suite 140, Irvine

Closed: April 25
Reason: Cockroach infestation
Reopened: April 26

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This list is published weekly with closures since the previous week’s list. Status updates are published in the following week’s list. Source: OC Health Care Agency database.

​ Orange County Register 

Judge’s order: Anaheim can’t require permits for transitional housing

• May 4, 2024

An Orange County judge has ruled Anaheim can’t require transitional or supportive housing operators to get permission from the city to open after the City Council denied a nonprofit from opening a group home in 2021.

State law governs group homes, such as when they need to be licensed and how many people per bedroom. Anaheim’s laws required transitional or supportive housing with seven or more people to get a permit from the city to open in all types of neighborhood zones.

Judge Walter Schwarm issued the order April 26; it comes out of the city’s loss in the nonprofit Grandma’s House of Hope case, where the city tried to prevent a transitional home for women from opening in its Anaheim Colony Historic District.

Schwarm’s new order rules that Anaheim must allow Grandma’s House of Hope to house more than six residents at its facility in the neighborhood. He also said the city’s law requiring transitional and supportive housing for seven or more residents to get a permit to open is void.

Schwarm ruled in February that the city violated state housing laws by not allowing the nonprofit to open the transitional housing facility. In that ruling, Schwarm wrote that Anaheim doesn’t require single-family homes with seven or more residents to get permits, therefore it can’t require transitional housing to do so.

The City Council in 2021 had voted unanimously to deny issuing a needed permit for the Anaheim Colony group home after community opposition.

The home would have housed 16 women in an eight-bedroom home, which the nonprofit has said would have served mostly homeless women over 40 with mental health issues and recovering from trauma. The nonprofit then sued the city in 2022 and was later joined in the lawsuit by the state.

The city will need to notify other transitional housing operators that Anaheim no longer requires permits for transitional or supportive housing. It will also have to post an update on its website with a copy of the notice sent to operators. Conditions for other permits issued by the city for transitional or supportive housing can no longer be enforced as well.

City spokesperson Mike Lyster said in an email that the city respects the court’s decision and will review it. Lyster said the city needed to be an advocate for its neighborhoods, saying the city has embraced Grandma’s House of Hope by welcoming 10 other facilities in the city at the time.

“This wasn’t a case of ‘NIMBY’ and was always about equity and a reasonable balance for all, including those in transitional housing,” Lyster said. “Throughout this process, our City Council has sought to ensure that both our neighborhoods and facilities don’t become negatively impacted by overconcentration.”

Lyster said the city estimates it has around 150 group homes, a portion of which would be affected by the judgement.

The City Council could vote to appeal the case. Lyster said the order does not go into effect if the city does appeal.

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​ Orange County Register 

Here are bulbs that are excellent for a shade garden

• May 4, 2024

While the vast majority of bulbs are meant for sunny locations, some are excellent candidates for the shade garden. Walking in my neighborhood the other day, I spotted the flowers of two bulb species that are durable and guaranteed to spread in shady locations.

The first shade lover I spotted was Natal or bush lily (Clivia miniata). Its silky, pastel orange to vivid reddish orange trumpet blooms are breathtaking in late winter and early spring. They form in clusters with as many as ten flowers per cluster. Leaves are broad straps of green that provide ocular pleasure on their own after flowers have faded. Yellow clivias are also occasionally seen. Spherical red fruits form where flowers have been and these contain seeds that germinate readily enough. The problem is that Clivia grows so slowly from seed that you will have to wait five years until flowers develop. For this reason, it is wiser to plant grown specimens. You can also acquire Clivia bulbs which are apt to give you flowers within the first year of being planted. One source for Clivia bulbs is Terra Ceia Farms (terraceiafarms.com), where you can acquire three bulbs for around twenty dollars.

The only enemy of Clivia is too much love. Plants should not be watered in winter and sprinklers kept on during that season can bring about their death. They also crave fast-draining soil. As indoor plants, they grow best in an orchid mix and, in the manner of orchids, thrive when their roots are exposed. This is not surprising since Clivia, like orchids, is epiphytic — that is, it is found growing in trees where one branch forks off from another.

The other flowering bulb for shade I noticed on my walk was summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum), a misnomer since it blooms in every season except summer. Flowers are nodding, scalloped bells or lampshades with a green spot on the tip of each petal. This is one of the toughest bulb plants as it can grow in dry or wet soil and spreads quickly in the garden bed. 

And now we come to Lenten rose or Hellebore (Helleborus orientalis) which, unfortunately, I did not encounter on my walk but wish I had. Hellebore is perfectly content growing in a shade garden. It does not grow from a bulb but has a clumping growth habit and will spread slowly but surely throughout a garden area that is protected from hot sun.

The Lenten rose is highly decorative – if in a somewhat subtle way – yet durable plant that deserves more of our horticultural attention. Also known as hellebore (hell-uh-BORE), it belies its name since it is a heavenly addition to the garden and far from boring. It blooms for many months in winter and spring with flowers that are typically pale greenish white, but may also appear flushed with pink, burgundy or purple. 

Many varieties have blueish-green foliage with saw-toothed margins. Hellebores need excellent drainage so If your soil is heavy, amend it with plenty of compost before planting. Gypsum, probably the least expensive amendment for softening hard soil, will similarly improve drainage when it is dug into the ground. Although they need good drainage, hellebores are not drought-tolerant and require some moisture in their root zone throughout the year.

Two notes of caution regarding hellebores: First, all plant parts are poisonous; second, hellebores should not be moved during the first few years after planting. Established plants may be carefully divided and moved as long as you are willing to wait several years for the divided clumps to re-establish and re-bloom. Hellebore is one of the most undeservedly neglected plants and I do not recall ever seeing it in a nursery, although it is readily ordered from Hellebore growers with a presence on the Internet. The mail-order nursery with the greatest selection of Hellebores, in addition to many, many exotic plant species that neither you nor I have ever encountered, is Sunshine Farm and Gardens (sunfarm.com).

Hellebores belong to the buttercup family (Ranunculus), a group noted for the diversity of its foliage, which is always a pleasure to behold. Meadow rue (Thalictrum polycarpum) is a California native buttercup for the shade garden that has soft, intricately-laced leaves atop succulent stems that rise up from underground. Anemone or windflower (Anemone coronaria), another type of buttercup, grows from a tuber and is flowering now in red, white and blue. The fall-blooming Japanese anemone (Anemone x hybrida), which sends up four-foot stems topped with white or pink blooms, is another neglected, but eminently suitable perennial for the shade garden. Finally, there are Ranunuculus corms themselves, which send up lacy foliage and tight turban-shaped flowers in white, yellow, orange, red, and pink.

Other plants that are compatible with hellebores include ferns of every description, low-growing palms and mahonias. Mahonia, or Oregon grape, is a sturdy grower that is also noted for saw-toothed foliage. Native to California, mahonia has edible blue fruit that is attractive to birds and other wildlife. Keep in mind that these plants will not grow in deep shade but do well grown under deciduous trees. 

Japanese maples are often seen growing in the proximity of hellebores due to their similar light requirements. A Japanese maple variety called Coral Bark (Acer palmatum var. Sango-kaku) is special. In addition to its salmon- to red-colored bark which, after its leaves have fallen, glimmers brightly in winter and spring before leafing out, Coral Bark can take more sun than the average Japanese maple. It is a fine specimen tree for light shade, partial sun or container gardens.

California native of the week: Creeping sage (Salvia Gracias) is a ground cover that grows six inches to two feet tall and is in full bloom from now until summer. Flowers are blue, foliage is gray and aromatic when crushed. In one year, creeping sage may cover up to eight feet of ground in every direction and single plants may spread to more than 30 feet with the passage of time. Yet where conditions for growth are limited, it may take much longer to reach that size. Still, it is a tough plant that will live for four decades under virtually any conditions. It will grow in rocky or sandy soil where other sages struggle and is seemingly impervious to heat and drought.

If you have bulb plants – or any other plants, for that matter – that you are proud of growing in the shade, please send your success story to [email protected]. Your questions and comments as well as gardening tips or garden problems are always welcome.

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​ Orange County Register 

Thousands of runners expected at 20th annual OC Marathon Sunday

• May 4, 2024

About 13,000 runners are signed up to trek the seaside route for the 20th running of Orange County’s signature marathon on Sunday, May 5.

The weekend also features a 5K and a fun run for kids on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday.

Festivities for the Hoag OC Marathon Running Festival including an expo, live music, food vendors and the finish line celebration that will all take place at the OC Fair & Event Center.

The 26.2 mile marathon is set to begin at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, starting in front of the Vea Newport Beach Marriott Resort and Spa near Fashion Island. Runners will go through Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana before finishing off at the fairgrounds. This course is relatively downhill from beginning to end, but does have a few minor hills.

The half marathon starts and ends in the same locations, but features a shorted course that skips Santa Ana. The race is set to begin in front of the same hotel at 6:15 a.m.

Runners can look forward to a panorama view of the Pacific Ocean within the first mile of starting, before making their way through the seaside community of Corona del Mar.

“It’s probably one of the most attractive courses out here in Southern California. It’s a net downhill course. Runners love that. The first seven miles are downhill, so they will really feel good those first seven miles,” Gary Kutscher, race director of the marathon event, said. “The marathon and half marathon split at where the Santa Ana Country Club is located and the marathon continues north into Irvine, and then Santa Ana and then returning back to the OC Fair &  Event Center here in Costa Mesa.”

Bleachers will be set up at the finish line to welcome the runners are they make their way through the last quarter mile of the course. Community members are invited out to the event center to cheer on the participants free of charge.

“It’s just amazing to see people coming in all the way on the far east side of the property,” Kutscher said. “And once they finish, and they come through their food and fluids, they’ll exit and be reunited with their family members inside our festival.”

Online registration closed on Friday night, however, folks can sign up in-person before Sunday at the OC Lifestyle and Fitness Expo during regular hours if races have not sold out. Participants can pick up their race bib and T-shirt at the expo between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday. There will be no packet pick-ups on Sunday.

Additional details and registration information can be found at OCmarathon.com.

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​ Orange County Register