The world’s biggest water recycling facility gets bigger in OC

• April 15, 2023

Officials gathered Friday, April 14, to toast the completed expansion of a pioneering recycling facility that takes wastewater and turns it into clean, drinkable water for much of Orange County.

With the $284 million expansion to the 15-year-old Groundwater Replenishment System, the facility can now provide up to 130 million gallons of water per day, enough to serve 1 million people daily in north and central Orange County.

“We really have something special right here in Orange County that we should all be proud of,” Cathy Green, the Orange County Water District’s board president, said. “Through decades of planning and proactive outreach, Orange County Water and Sanitation districts came together to implement a project that solves significant issues faced by each agency.”

There are two sources of water that residents get in Orange County: groundwater and water imported by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Groundwater is about half the cost of imported water, according to Mike Markus, general manager of the Orange County Water District.

Into the 1990s, the OC Water District relied on rain to keep groundwater basins filled, however long droughts meant more of a reliance on the purchase of imported water to meet needs, prompting the department to look for alternative ways to fill the basins.

The two agencies pioneered a recycling system to turn wastewater into clean, drinkable water.

“We built the first phase that went online in January 2008, providing 70 million gallons of water per day,” Markus said. “Since then, we’ve expanded it even further. We built an additional 30 million gallons per day that went online in May 2015.”

The now completed, more than $900 million Groundwater Replenishment System makes Orange County home to the world’s largest wastewater recycling plant.

The county’s wastewater is first treated at an OC Sanitation District plant in either Fountain Valley or Huntington Beach. Then, instead of being discharged into the ocean, it is sent to the Groundwater Replenishment System for several more steps in a purification process, including microfiltration and reverse osmosis, and then sent to replenish the groundwater aquifer. The result is a supply of quality drinking water ready to pump into faucets.

“As Californians, we all understand the importance of a stable source of drought-proof drinking water. GWRS provides that reliable supply of high-quality water, reducing our reliance on imported water,” Congresswoman Young Kim said during Friday’s celebratory event. “We’re so delighted to be representatives of this great county, and we can always tout the success of what we do, and show not only the nation, but the world, how we get things done.”

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​ Orange County Register 

The Book Pages: A real Southern California Underdog story

• April 15, 2023

I always root for the underdog, and I’m not the only one.

Hundreds came out on Saturday to welcome Underdog Bookstore to Monrovia, says Nathan Allen, who owns the store with his husband Thomas Murtland. (Visitors included Octavia’s Bookshelf owner Nikki High, offering another example of the wonderful, supportive people running our local bookstores.)

“We were really happy with the number of people who came. We had a Drag Storytime in the morning, which was really successful, with Pickle the Drag Queen. And we also had Carolyn Huynh, who is the author of ‘The Fortunes of Jaded Women.’ She was here to do a book signing and a reading,” says Allen.

And they got to use the big ribbon-cutting scissors, right? “The Chamber of Commerce came out and did a ribbon cutting for us, which was great,” he says.

Nathan Allen, who owns the Underdog Bookstore with his husband Thomas Murtland, at work in the shop on April 13, 2023. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

The store, which is on 312 S. Myrtle Ave. across from the library, is a welcome addition to the area. Allen explained why they chose Monrovia.

“I’m actually a Pasadena native, born and raised in the same house that my mom grew up in. So I have lots of ties in this area,” says Allen, who adds that his husband grew up on a small island off the coast of British Columbia. “He’s used to a very small town, so Pasadena ended up being too big a city for him. So we moved a little bit out away from Los Angeles towards Monrovia.”

Allen says Murtland had always wanted to open a bookstore, and they both have another dream they shared together.

“We were talking actually about raising a family. We really wanted to create a space that nurtured the community in a way that made it safer for our future kids,” says Allen.

“One of the ways that we thought about doing that was through a bookstore,” he says.”Our bookstore focuses almost exclusively on authors of color, LGBT and disabled authors, as well as small and medium presses, which is who we categorize as underdogs.”

As well, the store aims to make finding books by these authors easier.

Nathan Allen and Thomas Murtland, owners of Underdog Bookstore, celebrate with Pickle the Drag Queen during the store’s grand opening on April 8, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Allen / Underdog Bookstore)

“We aren’t organized like a normal bookstore that would have fiction, nonfiction, etc. We’re actually organized by demographic. So we have AAPI, we have Indigenous, we have Black authors, we have LGBT authors,” says Allen. “We really wanted people to be able to come in and find stories that they were interested in or find stories that reflected their own identities.”

Underdog started as a pop-up at the Monrovia Street Fair – which is one of the reasons the store also stocks items from local vendors – and Allen says they soon knew they wanted to find a permanent spot there.

“We felt like a bookstore was missing on Myrtle, so that’s one of the reasons we targeted it,” he says. “We found a place that worked well for us and transitioned to a brick-and-mortar store.”

Considering what is too-often seen in the headlines these days, I asked Allen if there’d been any negativity directed toward the store.

“Everyone that came to our Drag Storyhour was happy about the Drag Storyhour,” says Allen, who was aware of some negative comments made on the Nextdoor app. “But I think that if people are looking for a bookstore that doesn’t have a gay agenda, they probably are not looking for a bookstore that’s run almost entirely by two gay owners.

“In general, the community has been very supportive of us, which has been great to see,” he says. “Our doors are open to everyone.”

My tote from Underdog Bookstore. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

That includes the store’s other inspiration, who can often be found in the shop.

“We have a cute little two-and-a-half-year-old pug. Her name is Arbutus, which is the name of a tree on the Pacific West Coast. She usually goes by Booty, and so she was kind of the perfect mascot and it all kind of came together.”

Inside the Underdog Bookstore in Monrovia. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

Novelist Don Winslow shares one of his writing secrets

Don Winslow, who is the author of 23 novels, announced he was retiring following the publication of his final trilogy, which began with “City on Fire” and continues with “City of Dreams.” (Photo by Robert_Gallagher / Courtesy of William Morrow)

Don Winslow is the author of 23 novels, which include “The Winter of Frankie Machine,” “The Force” and the Cartel Trilogy. Last year, Winslow announced that he was retiring from writing novels following the publication of his final trilogy, which began with “City on Fire” and continues with “City of Dreams.” The new novel, which takes protagonist Danny Ryan to Hollywood, arrives in stores on Tuesday and Winslow will be appearing at Warwick’s in San Diego on April 18 and at Book Soup on April 19. Winslow spoke about his books, political activism and more, and in this Q&A, which has been edited for length and clarity, he talks about the books and people that have made an impact on his life. 

Q. Your mother was a librarian. Did she have the biggest impact on your reading life?

My dad was an inveterate reader, a career Navy guy who loved books, and my mom’s a librarian, so you get that combo plate. We always had books around the house. I grew up in a very small New England town, but I could go into that library and go anywhere in the world, at any time period in the world, just by wandering six feet down a bookshelf.

My parents also allowed us – my sister and me – to read anything we wanted at any age; there was no censorship. My sister [Kristine Rolofson] also became a professional novelist, by the way, with 43 published books. I don’t think that’s coincidental. So yeah, they were both huge influences.

Q. Do you and your sister ever compare notes?

No. [laughs] We write in very different genres, and so there really weren’t a lot of notes to compare. We’ve compared notes about the writing life, you know, like how do you go about it and what’s your day like and all that kind of stuff, but not not so much on the technical work because our our genres are so different. She’s very good at it.

Q. Do you remember the first book that really made an impact on you?

I remember a book called “Mila 18” that my dad turned me onto by Leon Uris – and I want to say a book called “Armageddon” by him as well.

Shakespeare, I started reading, or attempting to read, when I was six years old. Later in life, I started a Shakespeare program here at the local elementary school; I think they just did their 27th production of Shakespeare. It’s elementary school kids doing cut-down Shakespeare – you know, 40-minute versions – but all of Shakespeare’s words. So, those were very influential.

Q. What is something about your books that nobody knows?

Not to be too self-serving but I often think about the phrase “the effort it takes to make something look effortless,” you know? I hope that the books look effortless.

Q. The narratives feel pretty effortless to read.

That’s all in the rewriting. The first few drafts, I’m not thinking about the reader at all. I’m just amusing myself. But then, as the drafts go by toward the final two or three drafts, all I’m thinking about is the reader: Does the story makes sense? How does the dialogue sound? How does it look to the reader’s eye? Because we tend to forget that reading is a physical activity as well as an intellectual one.

Q. The way the words look on the page is important. People don’t typically talk about that.

Yeah, exactly. I will step away from the screen to the point where I can’t make out the words, only the shapes. And the question I ask is, Does it look like what it’s supposed to be? You know, if it’s a fast action sequence, it should look really dense because you’re not letting the reader go. But if I want to focus the reader on one or two small images or lines of dialogue, then it needs to have negative space, it needs to have white space on the page. It’s important. I know it’s important to me as a reader.

There are times I’ll add, literally, a syllable if it’s available to change the look of a sentence or a line.

Q. Now, book recommendations: I know one of your favorite books is “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” so I wanted to ask if you could recommend another crime novel, or, if you prefer, a book completely outside that genre.

Boy, I can answer both questions. In terms of the P.I. novel, I don’t think it’s ever going to get any better than Raymond Chandler’s “The Long Goodbye.” You know, he was the grandfather of us all.

And Lawrence Block’s Matt Scudder series – “When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes” would be one book I’d instantly bring up.

There’s so much good stuff, you know, you almost hesitate to answer these questions for fear of leaving somebody out. I mean, I could go on for an hour.

The latest book I read that I really loved outside of the genre is called “The Last Gift” by Abdulrazak Gurnah, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I just loved it. He’s Zanzibari. My education is in African history; I read a lot of African literature. He lives in England now and has for a long time. And it’s just a beautiful, beautiful book.

Don Winslow will be appearing at Warwick’s in San Diego on April 18 and at Book Soup on April 19 to speak and sign books.

More Book Stories

Novels and nonfiction are among the excellent books coming out in the coming months. (Covers courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron, Graywolf, Harper, Little Brown, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Riverhead)

15 books

Don’t miss these upcoming books we’re looking forward to this spring. READ MORE

• • •

Mensun Bound, director of Exploration of Endurance22 expedition and author of “The Ship Beneath the Ice,” on the sea ice of Weddell Sea, in the Antarctic. (Photo by Esther Horvath/Falkland Islands Maritime Heritage Trust / Courtesy of HarperCollins)

Cold as ‘Ice’

How Shackleton’s Endurance inspired a modern expedition to find the sunken ship. READ MORE

• • •

“Romantic Comedy,” a novel by Curtis Sittenfeld, is among the top-selling fiction releases at Southern California’s independent bookstores. (Courtesy of Random House)

The week’s bestsellers

The top-selling books at your local independent bookstores. READ MORE

• • •

Bookish (SCNG)

What’s next on ‘Bookish’

The next free Bookish event is April 21 at 5 p.m. with guests including Sharon Gless, Ari Shapiro and more talking books with host Sandra Tsing Loh.

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Dive into all of our books coverage

That’s it for this week. Please write me at [email protected] to share news, notes and books you’ve been enjoying, and your comments may appear in the newsletter.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

​ Orange County Register 

Gavin Newsom’s vanity tour is quite audacious for such a failure of a leader

• April 15, 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom might have just made his most audacious move yet.

Newsom, who has a fondness for making “big, hairy audacious” statements, just completed a tour through the south promoting his PAC and talking about his accomplishments in California.

What made this trip so audacious?

Not that this was just the latest installment of his national vanity tour that he insists is not the foundation for a presidential run, though that’s certainly audacious.

Not that his vanity tour once again draws him away from the state that he was actually elected to govern, though that is too.

And not that his concerns over book banning, First Amendment restrictions and threats to democracy in four southern states hold a mirror to his own authoritarian impulses in California.

No, the most audacious part of his vanity tour is that he has the nerve to criticize other governors despite having never really accomplished anything in California.

That’s big! Hairy! Audacious!

A consistent theme throughout Newsom’s time as governor is that what he says will happen and what actually happens is rarely in alignment.

Here’s a small example: MSNBC host Jen Psaki asked Newsom to respond to criticism that he’s wasting time traveling the south when he should be in California fixing problems. Newsom responded that the trip was actually family time, what with Easter and spring break for the kids.

Sounds like a real hoot for the kids!

Spring break apparently included a Democratic fundraiser in Florida, a trip to an Arkansas classroom, meeting with activists at a civil rights museum and more, plus local media hits and photo opps for dad. Voters could follow along on Instagram.

It reminds me of a story about former DNC Chair and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who one time stopped at a fundraiser to pick up checks and make a speech while on his way home from the hospital, leaving his newborn baby and wife – who was crying – in the car.

Anyway, back to Newsom.

And while Newsom was in the south promoting his PAC doing spring break, Californians got three more examples of Newsom’s words not aligning with reality.

First, it turns out that federal law actually prohibits Newsom’s big stand against Walgreens.

A few weeks ago, Newsom tweeted that he was “done” with Walgreens “or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk,” after the drug store announced it would comply with the abortion laws in individual states.

A big, hairy audacious stance indeed! But according to Kaiser Health News, the state must continue working with the drug store through Medi-Cal.

If only someone were fact-checking Newsom’s tweets before they were tweeted.

Second, we learned (again) that the Newsom-backed shutdown of schools during COVID had disastrous effects on students, with a third(!) suffering from chronic absenteeism.

Throughout COVID Newsom made little effort to reopen schools until it was “safe,” even though data suggested kids were low-risk, and it is important to remember that Newsom’s kids were in person in private school while much of the rest of the state was still apparently unsafe.

The Public Policy Institute of California, which published the data on absenteeism, noted a trend that in the schools with the biggest jump in 2021-22 there was a corresponding drop in statewide test scores in math and English proficiency.

Overall, the statewide scores were troubling – not even half of California’s students meet standards in English and merely a third in math.

While the absenteeism was COVID-related, the troubling test scores were part of a years-long trend. In fact, the most-recent scores were a decline of four percentage points in English and seven percentage points in math since 2018-19.

Speaking of COVID, this was Newsom’s top talking point about his first term in office, arguing the drastic actions he took saved lives and kept Californians safe (even if it significantly set back the state’s public school student population).

But now it appears that that’s not even true.

California ranked relatively well in its overall COVID mortality rates per 100,000 residents. What Newsom loved to say was it had one of the lowest death-per-100k rates of the big states, meaning better than Texas and Florida.

However, a new study by The Lancet, one of the premier medical journals in the world, found that once adjusted for various health and demographic factors, for which Newsom can’t take credit, California was relatively even with Texas and substantially worse than Florida.

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This study comes on the heels of another respected study that found masking requirements had little effect on controlling COVID, which means that Newsom’s overbearing approach to masking and shutdowns actually did very little to prevent the spread of COVID and COVID-related deaths, even as these actions had tremendous negative effects on civil liberties, education, mental health and the economy.

This means that Newsom’s greatest accomplishment was no accomplishment at all, which is not unprecedented with Newsom.

In an interview with CapRadio following his first 100 days in office, Newsom said his greatest accomplishment was suing then-President Donald Trump almost 50 times – even if the vast majority of those suits were initiated before his first 100 days as governor.

It’s doubtful Newsom mentioned any of this on his vanity tour spring break, but voters in red states should learn what voters in California have had to learn: Don’t take what Newsom says too seriously.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords

​ Orange County Register 

A political battle is cooking in my California kitchen

• April 15, 2023

Guests get more than food when they come to my house for dinner. They get a taste of the community.

My live-work unit at L Twelve Loft Space serves as a hub for artists, musicians and booklovers in the heart of East Oakland. I host events ranging from dance workshops to game nights, while serving original meals with Latino and African American influences—an expression of my ethnic heritage as a Bay Area native.

The micro restaurant, which I call Pimpin Chkn, comes with no set menu. I like to switch things up. Offerings on any given night might include deep fried pickles, mashed potato balls, coleslaw, tacos, briskets, ribs and chicken slathered with sauces I started developing in my youth.

The enterprise, launched in 2020, would not have been possible without two main catalysts. The first was COVID-19. I was working as a chef when the pandemic forced many restaurants to close, so I got laid off. Left with no other source of income, I started cooking at home for my neighbors. Word spread, and a new business emerged.

The second catalyst was a California law, passed in 2018, authorizing Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs). The measure, embraced in Alameda County in 2020, allows home-based chefs to sell meals prepared in their own kitchens directly to the public.

All 50 states and Washington, D.C., allow people to sell “cottage food,” which refers to food prepared at home for sale. California was an early adopter, passing one of the nation’s first cottage food laws in 2012.

The Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that supports food entrepreneurs, filed lawsuits in Minnesota, New Jersey, Wisconsin and elsewhere to challenge the final holdouts. Most recently, Rhode Island expanded cottage food opportunities to everyone—not just farmers. Yet even with nationwide acceptance, most jurisdictions limit cottage food sales to shelf-stable products that do not require refrigeration, such as cookies and breads.

Meat dishes are almost universally banned. Yet MEHKO entrepreneurs in participating California counties can sell just about anything, once they pass a home inspection and receive mandatory training. The result is a deeply personal dining experience. When I open my doors to my neighbors, my kitchen becomes their kitchen.

California deserves credit. But the MEHKO law that empowers me also holds me back.

Under current rules, I cannot collect more than $50,000 in gross annual revenue, which leaves little room for profit after subtracting expenses. I also cannot serve more than 60 meals a week. Often I must turn away potential partners who want to host events in my unit. Other times, we must proceed without food. My house is full, but my kitchen remains empty.

The artificial constraints keep my business small. To survive I must continue working as a chef at a traditional restaurant. But my dream is to expand Pimpin Chkn into a full-time endeavor.

AB 1325 would allow me to take the next step. The bi-partisan measure authored by Assembly Members Marie Waldron and Eduardo Garcia would raise the MEHKO sales cap to $100,000 per year and the meal cap to 90 meals per week.

The expansion could turn neighborhoods across the state into hotbeds of innovation. The economic growth would be especially welcome in California “food deserts,” which lack convenient access to grocery stores and restaurants. Neighbors could find affordable meals without traveling far or paying delivery fees.

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Other MEHKOs could fill market gaps, complementing existing food businesses. Traditional restaurants sometimes see MEHKOs as a competitive threat. But my early experimentation, which includes partnerships with local chefs, already shows the potential for collaboration.

A vibrant dining scene requires multiple options in all sizes and shapes. As MEHKO laws expand, everyone would benefit. The payoffs could spill over to other counties, which have not yet opted into the MEHKO program, and even spur growth in other states. California could serve as a nationwide model for food freedom, joining other pioneers like Wyoming, Utah, Iowa and Oklahoma.

I love the energy in my home during community gatherings, but the MEHKO restrictions are holding me back. State lawmakers gave me an opening in 2020. Now they should let me grow, so I can keep my kitchen lights on.

Elijah Brown is a chef and owner of Pimpin Chkn in East Oakland.

​ Orange County Register 

Coachella 2023: Excited fans strut into Day 1 to catch their favorite acts

• April 15, 2023

For stepsisters Danielle Portney and Tamara Lett waltzing into the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival early Friday afternoon was a homecoming of sorts.

Portney, 32, of Los Angeles, and Lett, 33, of San Diego haven’t missed a festival since they were juniors in high school 16 years ago.

“It’s exciting to be back,” said Portney, who along with Lett was accompanied by Dylan Carro of Imperial Beach.

“It’s fun for me because while people complain about the festival not being like it used to be, I have the most fun just discovering bands I’ve never heard of before,” Portney said of their annual decision to buy tickets before the lineups are known.

Gates opened Friday, April 14 a few minutes after noon, letting fans rush onto the pristine green fields of the Empire Polo Club in Indio once again.

As the Ferris wheel slowly groaned into motion some fans headed straight for the merch tents, which this year included a special standalone tent for Friday’s headliner Bad Bunny. Others rushed to check out the new art installations for selfies and social media photos before the crowds arrive to spoil their perfect backgrounds.

Jordan Bibbs of Crown Point, Indiana just south of Chicago, posed for his friend Rachel Baranowski of Dyer, Indiana in front of new installation that looked like giant, shiny purple grapes hovering above the field.

Both 24, they’d driven 30 hours almost non-stop to realize a dream they’d shared since high school.

“Me and Rachel have always seen Coachella from social media, Instagram or influencers,” Bibbs said.

They knew the lineup before they bought their passes — Frank Ocean was a big draw — but said it wouldn’t have mattered if they hadn’t. Blackpink, Metro Boomin, Charli XCX, Rae Sremmurd and Gorillaz were also on their to-see list, they said

William Stone, an Australian living in Dubai, and Dominique Harrison-Bentzen, a Brit living in the same Middle Eastern nation, were also first-timers at the fest.

Their trip was a Christmas present to satisfy their bucket list goal of attending a world-famous festival, Stone, 36, said.

“You just know it’s one of those festivals that’s just going to be an epic lineup,” Stone said of buying their tickets to weekend one before the lineup was released.

“It’s more a discovery,” Harrison-Bentzen, 31, said. “We were driving listening to (Coachella acts on) Spotify and realizing. ‘Oh we know this song, we know this song.’”

That’s a big part of the fun, Portney and Lett agreed.

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“We plan to go every year,” Portney said.

“We like it more than Christmas,” Lett added.

While some fans rushed in to claim their merch or spots near the front of the Coachella stage to catch higher-billed sets, others took a more leisurely approach. They went and grabbed snacks, hopped on the Ferris wheel for a ride and walked inside the rainbow-colored Spectra Tower.

Brent Brubaker, who resides in Riverside County, is celebrating his twelfth Coachella this year.

“It never gets old to me,” he said as he was leaving his car to head into the festival from the parking lot. “I’m one of those people who really doesn’t like crowds, but after experiencing my first Coachella, I’ll never miss a year.”

This year, he’s coming both festival weekends as the event continues April 21-23. Unlike the first weekend, the second weekend isn’t sold out.

“I’m doing weekend one alone and weekend two with some friends, but either way it’s always a great time,” he said. “You meet so many people and link up with so many people you never expected to. For me, I don’t come to see anybody, I come to just be here. I love it.”

Then there are the fans that just can’t wait to get the party started. Some showed up a day early with their on-site camping passes, noting that the campgrounds are often a festival highlight.

“We’ve been camping at Coachella for the past few years and after experiencing it in 2019, we couldn’t go back to just renting a house or a hotel,” Mindy Klan of Arizona said while enjoying a slice of pizza by the Yuma Tent. “Camping here is its own party. We’ve seriously made lifelong friends with other people who happened to be camping by us, and it always ends up with all of us having after parties by our cars when the days end. Even though it can get hot, we love the luxury of just waking up, being on the grounds and escaping the madness when we want to. There’s no other festival that offers that experience.”

Noah Costales, who flew in from New York, admitted he only came to see Frank Ocean perform.

“I bought a three-day festival pass before I knew who else would be on the bill — but I knew Frank would be playing since he couldn’t back in 2020 since COVID happened — so it was a done deal,” Costales said. “If I’m being honest, I wasn’t as impressed with this year’s lineup as I have been in the past, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to catch Frank Ocean.”

 More Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival news

Coachella 2023: Set times and schedule announced — plus a surprise guest

Coachella 2023: Where to go for breakfast, lunch or late-night snacks pre-and post-festival

How Day Club Palm Springs’ poolside parties offer a unique concert experience

Desert Gold’s free music event returns to Palm Springs during both Coachella weekends

Coachella 2023: How to livestream performances from all of the festival stages

Coachella 2023: 5 Southern California artists making their festival debut

What to pack for the 2023 Coachella and Stagecoach fests — and what to know before you get there

Coachella 2023: Weekend Two hasn’t sold out yet. Here’s why that’s good for you

​ Orange County Register 

Boy, 14, arrested in Irvine gunpoint robbery

• April 15, 2023

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of a robbery in Irvine, police said Friday.

Police were called at 8:37 p.m. Wednesday to Passage and Nightshade regarding the robbery, Irvine police Sgt. Karie Davies said. The victim was walking home from the Quail Hill shopping center when two males robbed her, Davies said.

One of the suspects threatened her with a gun, prompting a struggle over the victim’s belongings, but the robber with the gun managed to take one of her bags, Davies said.

The suspects fled in a black car, but police were able to track down the teen because they took an electronic device that had the ability to be tracked, Davies said. By tracking the device police were able to obtain surveillance footage, the sergeant said.

Police tracked the device to San Bernardino County on Thursday, where a suspect was seen leaving an apartment in Hesperia, Davies said.

The suspect got into a stolen vehicle and police followed him to a shopping center in Apple Valley, where the 14-year-old was arrested without incident, Davies said. Police also recovered the electronic device.

Police also recovered more of the loot, a handgun without serial numbers and ammunition, Davies said. He was booked into Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of robbery, possession of stolen property and assault with a deadly weapon.

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​ Orange County Register 

Angels pitchers have quickly become fans of catcher Logan O’Hoppe

• April 15, 2023

BOSTON — Tyler Anderson started to walk away after a brief interview in which he was complimenting rookie catcher Logan O’Hoppe’s work behind the plate.

Then, the veteran left-hander turned around and returned to add one more comment.

“He’s really good, and he wants to be good,” Anderson said. “Some players are good because they’re good, and some players are good because they want to be good. They care a lot. He cares a lot.”

Anderson described why Angels pitchers have grown so fond of the 23-year-old so quickly.

“I just feel like the first couple times I talked to him, he was already good, but I feel like he’s just made a lot of strides,” said Anderson, a 33-year-old in his eighth major league season. “Anything you tell him, he soaks it in. … He works his butt off. He’s just working to get better at everything he does. From the first bullpen he caught in spring, to the first game, he continues to get better every time and he was already solid.”

Left-hander Aaron Loup, a 35-year-old in his 12th major league season, had similar feelings about O’Hoppe.

“He works his (butt) off,” Loup said. “He makes it a point to go around to most of the pitchers and see what they like to do and how they like to pitch and then he takes that, applies that to the scouting reports he’s got and figures out the best way to go about it. He’s been really good. I’ve been very impressed.”

Manager Phil Nevin said O’Hoppe has worked especially well with Shohei Ohtani. Even though Ohtani calls his own pitches, Nevin said O’Hoppe takes what he learns from Ohtani’s games to his game-calling with the other pitchers.

“There are going to be times where (the game) speeds up a little bit, but they’ve been few and far between, and a lot less than what I anticipated,” Nevin said.

Through the first 12 games, the Angels had a 2.90 ERA in the 10 games that O’Hoppe started.

“Behind the plate, I feel great, but that’s because of the pitchers,” O’Hoppe said. “I only feel as good as they throw.”

The Angels believe O’Hoppe’s primary job is what he does with the pitchers, but he’s also providing a bonus at the plate.

He was leading the team with four home runs and 11 RBIs heading into Friday’s game, to go with a .936 OPS.

“I feel alright at the plate,” O’Hoppe said. “I’m working on a few things. I don’t think I’ve hit a groove yet.”

HOMECOMING

O’Hoppe said this trip to Boston and New York is special for him because he grew up on Long Island. He has plenty of friends and family who will be watching him in person this week.

O’Hoppe said he was at Fenway Park for Derek Jeter’s final game in 2014, and he also played in the park once while he was in high school. He said he actually had the same locker that he was assigned this weekend.

Yankee Stadium will be even more emotional for O’Hoppe.

“It’s special for me and my parents,” O’Hoppe said. “They took me to games growing up and I went alone when I was old enough to drive. Every game I went there, it reminded me that I want to be here and play in games for real, so it’s going to be pretty surreal when I get to do it.”

WALSH UPDATE

Nevin said first baseman Jared Walsh has left the facility in Utah where he was undergoing treatment for headaches and insomnia, but they still will not have more clarity on a timetable for his return until sometime in the middle of next week.

Walsh has missed the first two weeks of the season so far. His baseball work has been limited, so he’ll need some time to get up to speed before he can return to the active roster.

NOTES

Nevin said a few days ago that he expected Mike Trout to get a day off during this four-game series, but on Friday he wasn’t sure if he would do that. “We’ll see how it goes,” Nevin said. He added that, if they are going to give Trout a day off, it might make sense to do it on Monday, because the Patriots’ Day game starts at 11 a.m., which is 8 a.m. PT. That’s the game Ohtani is scheduled to pitch. …

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Gio Urshela got the day off on Friday. Nevin said he felt Urshela, 31, could benefit more than the other infielders from getting two straight days off, including Thursday’s off day. …

David Fletcher was credited with a hit via a scoring change. Fletcher reached on a bunt on April 7. The play was initially scored as a sacrifice and an error. …

Matt Thaiss is scheduled to start at catcher on Saturday. It would be his third start of the season.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 1-0, 4.22) at Red Sox (RHP Nick Pivetta, 0-1, 0.90), Saturday, 1:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

​ Orange County Register 

CONCACAF Gold Cup draw groups USA with Jamaica, Nicaragua

• April 14, 2023

The busy summer for the U.S. men’s national soccer team continued to take shape Friday.

The U.S., which will face Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal June 15, learned its group opponents for the CONCACAF Gold Cup at the tournament draw Friday at SoFi Stadium.

The Gold Cup begins June 24, with the times and dates to be announced at a later date.

In group play, the U.S. will face Jamaica, Nicaragua and the winner of a four-team qualifier between Curacao, St. Kitts and Nevis, French Guyana and Sint Mararten. The winner of the Curacao vs. St. Kitts and Nevis will meet the French Guiana vs. Sint Maarten winner. The last team standing will advance into the group with the U.S.

The four-team preliminary round will be played June 16-17, then the winners face each other June 20.

“I think there’s other pots that are probably, slightly easier, but I think our group is a tough group,” U.S. coach Anthony Hudson said. “Jamaica especially is a really tough team, strong team, done well in the past and then as I’ve said all along, we know there’s no easy games.

“People think you can walk through these teams … you have to be your best in every game, but that aside, we are confident and we aim to get out of the group and go as far as we can.”

The group stage will be played June 24-July 4, followed by the quarterfinals July 8-9, the semifinals July 12 and the final July 16 at SoFi Stadium, the site of Friday’s draw.

“What you find with these games is the contrasts in styles of play and types of players,” Hudson said. “You play against Jamaica and there’s a certain style and it’s a physicality and it’s aggressive and you have to match that. And then you have to play against Nicaragua and it’s different, so that’s the uniqueness I think of this tournament.

“There are so many different styles of play and you have to be prepared to go against that.”

Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica were the top seeds in the three other pools.

Hudson, who is still serving as coach of the national team in place of Gregg Berhalter, will lead a predominantly MLS-based team into a game Wednesday against Mexico in the newly created AllState Continental Clasico.

For the two summer tournaments, Hudson hopes to have the option of picking from a wider pool of players.

“Once we get this game out of the way next week against Mexico, I think we’ll start and we’ve already started conversations (about players) … we need to sit down and make sure that we put out the best possible teams we can for both the Nations League and the Gold Cup,” Hudson said. “While still respecting and taking into account individual situations of players and making sure we do the right things by the players, but also putting out our best teams.

“It’s not necessarily a core pool (of players), it’s more a core group that are able to go through both tournaments and I think that helps us with consistency and not turning up on Day 1 of preparation for the Gold Cup with a completely new group.”

The U.S. is the defending Gold Cup champion after defeating Mexico 1-0 in 2021. The U.S. hasn’t won consecutive tournaments since 2005 and 2007.

Mexico is in Group B and is paired with Haiti, Honduras and Qatar, who is competing as a guest country.

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Costa Rica is grouped with Panama, El Salvador and the winner of the Martinique, St. Lucia, Suriname and Puerto Rico four-team qualifier.

Canada has Guatemala, Cuba and the winner of the Trindad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, Guyana and Grenada qualifier.

“These players, every year, they want to get one better and for us, one better would be getting to the final,” Canada coach John Herdman said. “We want to embrace that expectation.”

​ Orange County Register