Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski collision trial ends, jury deliberates

• March 30, 2023

By SAM METZ

PARK CITY, Utah — A jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon in Gwyneth Paltrow’s trial over a 2016 ski collision at a Utah resort.

Attorneys for Paltrow and the 76-year-old man suing her described their clients in closing arguments as aggrieved victims participating in a yearslong legal battle to take a stand for truth. The eight-person jury is tasked with weighing dueling versions of who was the downhill skier, making the other side culpable according to a skier responsibility code.

During closing arguments, Paltrow’s attorneys asked jurors to disregard the opposing side’s emotional pleas for sympathy of Terry Sanderson over the state of his relationships. The retired optometrist has said the collision left him with a concussion and four broken ribs. Paltrow’s legal team said that for their client, it would’ve been easier to simply write a check, settle the lawsuit and put the crash behind her.

“But what would that teach her children?” attorney Steve Owens asked jurors Thursday.

Accompanying his remarks were high-resolution animations depicting Paltrow’s version of events, which have been shown throughout the trial in the Park City courtroom.

“It’s not about the money. It’s about ruining a very delicate time in a relationship where they were trying to get their kids together,” Owens said.

The 2016 family trip to Deer Valley Resort was the first time Paltrow and her then-boyfriend Brad Falchuk brought their kids together in an effort to join families.

During the second week of trial, Paltrow, Sanderson and members of the jury all nodded along as attorneys repeated familiar narratives, denounced some witnesses’ claims and elevated others.

Sanderson is suing Paltrow over the events of that trip, claiming she skied out of control and crashed into him, leaving him with four broken ribs and a concussion with symptoms that have lasted years beyond the collision.

After a judge dismissed his initial $3.1 million complaint, Sanderson amended and refiled the lawsuit seeking “more than $300,000” — a threshold that that provides the opportunity to introduce the most evidence and depose the most witnesses allowed in civil court. In closing arguments, his attorneys estimated damages as more than $3.2 million.

Paltrow has countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees, though her attorneys said in closing arguments that the crash had caused her far more damage.

Sanderson’s attorneys have cast doubt on Paltrow’s testimony and underscored the injuries that their client, Sanderson, has said changed the course of his life.

“He never returned home that night as the same man. Terry has tried to get off that mountain but he’s really still there,” attorney Robert Sykes said in his closing argument. “Part of Terry will forever be on that Bandana run.”

In a courtroom more packed Thursday than any other day of the trial, Sanderson’s attorneys delivered their arguments first. They argued it was unlikely that someone could ski between another skier’s two legs as Paltrow said. They also noted that she didn’t deny watching her kids skiing the moment of the crash.

Paltrow’s attorneys took a two-pronged approach, both arguing that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer didn’t cause the accident and that its effects aren’t as bad as Sanderson claims. They’ve painted him as an “obsessed” man pushing “utter B.S.” claims against someone whose fame makes them vulnerable to unfair, frivolous lawsuits.

In their closing arguments, Sanderson’s team also noted how the man claiming to be the sole eyewitness testified to seeing Paltrow hit their client. Though they’ve tapped into themes including the power of fame throughout the trial, they said that the case ultimately wasn’t about celebrity, but simply damages.

Sanderson testified that he had continued to pursue damages seven years after the accident because the cascading events that followed — his post-concussion symptoms and the accusation that he sued to exploit Paltrow’s celebrity — added insult to injury.

“That’s the purpose: to make me regret this lawsuit. It’s the pain of trying to sue a celebrity,” he said on Wednesday in response to a question from his attorney about Paltrow’s team probing his personal life, medical records and extensive post-crash international travel itinerary.

Though both sides have marshaled significant resources to emerge victorious, the verdict could end up being remembered as an afterthought dwarfed by the worldwide attention the trial has attracted. The amount of money at stake pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit, private security detail and expert witness-heavy trial.

Among the most bombshell testimony has been from Paltrow and Sanderson. On Friday members of the jury were riveted when Paltrow said on the stand that she initially thought she was being “violated” when the collision began. Three days later Sanderson gave an entirely different account, saying she ran into him and sent him “absolutely flying.”

The trial has also shone a spotlight on Park City, known primarily as a ski resort that welcomes celebrities like Paltrow for each year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Local residents have increasingly filled the courtroom gallery throughout the trial. They’ve nodded along as lawyers and witnesses have referenced local landmarks like Montage Deer Valley, the ski-side hotel-spa where Paltrow got a massage after the collision. At times they have appeared captivated by Paltrow’s reactions to the proceedings, while at others they have mirrored the jury, whose endurance has been tested by hours of jargon-dense medical testimony.

AP writer Anna Furman contributed from Los Angeles.

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​ Orange County Register 

9 killed in Army Black Hawk helicopter crash in Kentucky

• March 30, 2023

By SHARON JOHNSON, REBECCA REYNOLDS and DYLAN LOVAN

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Nine people were killed in a crash involving two Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters conducting a nighttime training exercise in Kentucky, Army officials said Thursday.

Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said the deaths happened Wednesday night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.

A statement from Fort Campbell said the two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Trigg County, Kentucky. The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Fort Campbell. The crash is under investigation.

The helicopters crashed in a field near a residential area with no injuries on the ground, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 101st Airborne deputy commander, said. One helicopter had five people aboard and the other had four, Lubas said.

An Army spokesperson declined to comment on whether the helicopters collided in the air.

“At this time, there is no determination on the specifics regarding the accident,” Daniel Matthews, a public affairs officer for the 101st Airborne Division, said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon. Matthews said an aviation safety team from Fort Rucker, Alabama, will investigate the accident.

Speaking a news conference Thursday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state would do everything it can to support the families of those killed.

“We’re going to do what we always do. We’re going to wrap our arms around these families, and we’re going to be there with them, not just for the days, but the weeks and the months and the years to come,” Beshear said.

Lubas said it is unclear what caused the crash.

“This was a training progression, and specifically they were flying a multi-ship formation, two ships, under night vision goggles at night,” Lubas said. He said officials believe the accident occurred when “they were doing flying, not deliberate medical evacuation drills.”

The helicopters have something similar to the black boxes on passenger planes, which records the performance of aircrafts in flight and are used by investigators to analyze crashes.

“We’re hopeful that will provide quite a bit of information of what occurred,” Lubas said.

The Black Hawk helicopter is a critical workhorse for the U.S. Army and is used in security, transport, medical evacuations, search and rescue and other missions. The helicopters are known to many people from the 2001 movie “Black Hawk Down,” which is about a violent battle in Somalia eight years earlier.

Black Hawks were a frequent sight in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan during the wars conducting combat missions and are also used by the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. They were also often used to ferry visiting senior leaders to headquarters locations in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones.

Fort Campbell is located near the Tennessee border, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, and the crash occurred in the Trigg County, Kentucky, community of Cadiz.

Nick Tomaszewski, who lives about a mile from where the crash occurred, said he saw two helicopters flying over his house moments before the crash.

“For whatever reason last night my wife and I were sitting there looking out on the back deck and I said ‘Wow, those two helicopters look low and they look kind of close to one another tonight,’” he said.

The helicopters flew over and looped back around and moments later “we saw what looked like a firework went off in the sky.”

“All of the lights in their helicopter went out. It was like they just poofed … and then we saw a huge glow like a fireball,” Tomaszewski said.

Flyovers for training exercises happen almost daily and the helicopters typically fly low but not so close together, he said.

“There were two back to back. We typically see one and then see another one a few minutes later, and we just saw two of them flying together last night,” he said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to the families of those killed.

“My heart goes out to the families of these servicemembers and to the members of the 101st Airborne Division who bravely and proudly serve our country each and every day,” Lloyd said in a statement.

In the Kentucky House and in the Senate, members stood for a moment of silence Thursday morning in honor of the crash victims. Kentucky state Rep. Walker Thomas said the crash occurred about 15 to 20 minutes from his home.

“They’re there to protect us,” Thomas said. “And we’re constantly seeing these helicopters flying over our communities.”

Thomas spoke about how connected Fort Campbell soldiers and their families are to the communities near the Army post.

“The Fort Campbell soldiers that live in our communities, go to our churches … they go to our schools, their kids do,” he added. “And this really hurts.”

By Thursday morning, word of the crash was spreading through the community of Clarksville, Tennessee, just outside Fort Campbell.

Chaterra Watts, a former Army soldier who was stationed at Fort Campbell from about 2015 to 2019, said once she heard about the crash, she jumped on social media to try to find out more and if she knew any of the victims.

“I pray for their friends and their families and just hope that we can all come together as a community and that something positive will come out of something so tragic,” Watts said.

Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during a training exercise.

Lovan and Reynolds reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky; Lolita Baldor in Washington and Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; contributed to this report. AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York also contributed.

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​ Orange County Register 

Papa John’s workers picket after sudden store closure, layoffs

• March 30, 2023

Employees picketed a Papa John’s pizza shop in Lynwood on Thursday, March 30 to protest its abrupt closure and their resulting layoffs.

The non-union cooks, cashiers and delivery drivers said management called a staff meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to inform them that the restaurant would be shutting down the following day and that they would all lose their jobs.

Jose de la Torre, who had worked at the Lynwood store for nearly four years, said the announcement caught everyone off guard.

“It was very sad,” the Los Angeles resident said. “Management said they would give us severence pay according to how long each of us worked here, but they only offered me one week.”

De la Torre said management didn’t offer to transfer displaced employees to other Papa John’s locations.

Workers said they would picket the store until management presents an acceptable agreement on severence pay, along with transfers to other company locations. They were joined Thursday by members of Fight For $15 and a Union, which is working to improve wages and working conditions for fast-food employees.

Representatives with the Atlanta-based pizza chain could not be reached for comment Thursday, although a media contact indicated the Lynwood store was a franchise location. When called, the store’s phone appeared to be disconnected.

The store’s closure and protest comes on the heels of increasing worker activism at the restaurant concerning safety and claims that management retaliated against employees for speaking out on safety issues. (Photo courtesy of Fight For $15 and a Union)

Thursday’s closure and protest comes on the heels of increasing worker activism at the restaurant.

On Christmas Eve, workers went on strike demanding that Papa John’s improve safety measures for employees who had faced a string of robberies and other gun-related incidents at the store.

Two workers filed a public health complaint with Cal/OSHA in December, alleging unsafe conditions and multiple threatening incidents with people holding guns at work or on their delivery routes.

In the complaint, cashier Aura Lopez describes being threatened with a gun in the parking lot after closing the store by herself one night.

“I was sitting inside my car for about four minutes when a man came up holding a gun,” the 22-year-old Los Angeles resident said. “A friend was with me in the car and we immediately left.”

De la Torre described similary instances of feeling unsafe during deliveries, including one when a customer refused to pay and pointed to a gun in his waistband.

Employees staged a second strike at the Lynwood location in January, alleging their store’s owner retaliated against activist workers by cutting their hours rather than engaging with them on the safety issues they raised.

The workers are also also seeking implementation of Assembly Bill 257, which would create a 10-person, state-run council to negotiate wages, hours and working conditions for the more than half a million fast-food workers in California.

The legislation, also known as the FAST Recovery Act, was signed into law Sept. 5 by Gov. Gavin Newsom. But Save Local Restaurants — a coalition of fast-food franchisees and franchisors who oppose the measure — gathered enough signatures to halt the bill and place a referendum on the 2024 ballot to let voters decide its outcome.

The bill is designed to help workers who often struggle to make ends meet. It would also address wage theft, harassment, discrimination and unsafe work conditions fast-food workers say they face on the job.

​ Orange County Register 

All-County Boys Basketball Team: Sophomore Brandon Benjamin is the O.C. player of the year

• March 30, 2023

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Brandon Benjamin, Canyon, So.

It was a willpower basket.

In the final seconds of a tie game in the CIF Southern Section boys basketball quarterfinals, Brandon Benjamin got a one-handed rebound of his own miss and banked the ball off the glass and through the hoop as the buzzer sounded to give Canyon a 58-56 win over JSerra. The victory sent his team to the Division 2AA semifinals and clinched a berth in the CIF State tournament.

That moment exemplified Benjamin’s play all season, and he has been chosen by the Register as the Orange County player of the year.

Using his quick and powerful moves around the basket, the 6-foot-5 sophomore played like a 6-9 senior and averaged 23 points and nine rebounds a game.

He was the Crestview League player of the year, was named All-CIF for the second year in a row, and he surpassed 1,000 career points this season.

“The game-winner against JSerra was a big one,” Benjamin said. “Scoring 36 points against Villa Park, too, and my breakaway dunk against Brea Olinda for my 1,000th career point.”

Benjamin, who was first-team All-County as a freshman, scored 32 points in the win over JSerra and 48 points over Canyon’s two games against its top league competitor, Foothill. With Canyon missing two likely starters because of injuries, he faced constant double- and triple-teams.

He made 55% of his shots, and in the CIF-SS playoffs he scored 89 points over three games.

“Brandon wants to win everything,” said Canyon coach Nate Harrison. “He’s a matchup nightmare at the high school level. He’s so strong and physical, he’s able to score at will around the basket, and if a bigger guy is on him he can put the ball on the floor and go around him.”

This month he transferred to Mater Dei and attended his first classes there Tuesday.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Steve Garrett, Tesoro

Tesoro won a county-high 31 boys basketball games this season, won the South Coast League championship and won a CIF Southern Section championship.

It was Steve Garrett’s 22nd season as Tesoro’s coach, and he is the Register’s boys basketball coach of the year.

The Titans beat Orange Lutheran 54-35 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA championship game. In the CIF Southern California Regional Division II playoffs, Tesoro lost by one point to Orange Lutheran in the semifinals.

Garrett, 49, said the players were a joy to coach.

“Their top quality was how much they cared for each other,” Garrett said. “In this day and age it’s usually ‘look at me’ but with them it was ‘look at us and see what we’ve accomplished.’”

Tesoro head coach Steve Garrett gives his players a pep talk between periods in the semifinals of the Beach Bash Tournament against Los Alamitos at Corona del Mar High School in Corona del Mar on Friday, December 9, 2022. (Sam Gangwer, Contributing Photographer)

ALL-COUNTY FIRST TEAM

Kaiden Bailey, Crean Lutheran, Fr., G

Bailey was MVP of the Empire League and led the Saints to a 10-0 league record.

Brandon Benjamin, Canyon, So., F

The Orange County player of the year.

Carson Brown, Tesoro, Sr., G

Brown led the Titans to the CIF-SS Division 2AA championship and was the division’s player of the year. He was also the South Coast League player of the year.

Carter Bryant, Sage Hill, Jr., F

He was chosen for the All-CIF Southern Section Division 4A team. Among his many highlights, he scored 19 points with 12 rebounds in a win over El Modena in the Division 4A quarterfinals.

Zach Davidson, Mater Dei, Sr., F

Davidson averaged 18 points a game and was named to the All-Trinity League and All-CIF Division 1 first teams.

Aidan Fowler, JSerra, Jr., G

An All-Trinity League first-team selection, Fowler scored 27 points in a league game against Orange Lutheran.

Brannon Martinsen, Mater Dei, Fr., F

Martinsen averaged 12 points and five rebounds and was the only freshman on the All-CIF Division 1 and All-Trinity League first teams.

Sebastian Rancik, JSerra, Jr., F

Rancik was All-Trinity League first team and All-CIF Division 1. He scored 20 points with seven rebounds in a win over St. John Bosco and scored 29 points with 17 rebounds in a win over Crean Lutheran.

Rockwell Reynolds, Santa Margarita, Sr., F

He was an All-Trinity League first-team player. Reynolds scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half of the Eagles’ first win over Mater Dei in 18 years.

Parker Strauss, Pacifica Christian, Sr., G

Strauss was the leader for a team that won the San Joaquin League championship and advanced to the CIF State Division II championship game.

SECOND TEAM

Isaiah Bernard, Foothill, Jr., G

Liam Gray, Los Alamitos, So., G

Efe Gucoglu, Capistrano Valley, Sr., G

Bowen Hammer, Fairmont Prep, Sr., F

Collin Haugh, Dana Hills, So., G

Dylan Hugues, Edison, Sr., G

Zion Paleo, Orange Lutheran, So., G

Arik Mawien, Capistrano Valley Christian, Sr., F

Trent Minter, Los Alamitos, So., F

Yanmife Oke, Sonora, Sr., G

THIRD TEAM

Carlo Billings, Foothill, Sr., G

John Gazzaniga, Orange Lutheran, So., F

Colin Huang, Portola, Sr., G

Brady Karich, Mater Dei, Jr, G

Connor Leonard, Canyon, Sr., G

Maper Maker, Fairmont Prep, So. F

Blake Manning, Tesoro, Sr., G

Cameron Mercadel, Orangewood Academy, Jr., G

Drew Rodriguez, El Modena, Sr., G

EJ Spillman, Pacifica Christian, So., G

FOURTH TEAM

Alier Alier, Orangewood Academy, Jr., F

Cooper Bladow, El Dorado, Sr., G

Dylan Gomez, Crean Lutheran, So., G

Brayden Kayman, Santa Margarita, Fr., F

Jaxson LaGraffe, Esperanza, Sr., G

Ryan McElroy, Aliso Niguel, Sr., F

Cameron McNamee, Santa Margarita, Jr., G

Eli Nyeazi, Tustin, Sr., G

Grayson Sinek, La Habra, So., G

Markus Toscano, Loara, Jr., F

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​ Orange County Register 

Riverside County’s scandal-plagued sheriff’s department needs serious reform

• March 30, 2023

While many Republican and conservative Californians are big fans of Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, no one should forget that Bianco is fundamentally a tool of the county’s most powerful public employee union, the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association.

The union put him up to run in 2018, spent lavishly to get him elected and now essentially controls the department. The results have been catastrophic for Riverside County.

The California Department of Justice has already launched a civil rights investigation into the sheriff’s department to determine if the department “has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing amid deeply concerning allegations relating to conditions of confinement in its jail facilities, excessive force, and other misconduct.”

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has already settled a federal lawsuit prompted by deputies barging into the homes of an elderly couple without a warrant.

And now, families of some of the many jail inmates who have died in Riverside County jails have filed a federal lawsuit against the county and Sheriff Bianco. A record number of people died in custody last year, 18, the most in one year since 12 died back in 2005.

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“Interviews and records show even more people have died after being in jail than the sheriff has publicly acknowledged — and that, in many cases, relatives aren’t told when inmates have life-threatening medical emergencies,” reports The Desert Sun. “The sheriff’s department and hospital staff often make potentially life-and-death decisions, while families are kept in the dark searching for basic information.”

This is unacceptable.

It’s also sadly all too predictable. This is what happens when a puppet of RSA gets into power.  Riverside County residents should be outraged.

Riverside County Democrats should also be aware that Democratic Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington, who endorsed Bianco for sheriff in 2018, is actively touting Bianco’s endorsement of him in his 2024 re-election bid.

These problems are bigger than one person. It’s systemic.

Riverside County residents need to choose better county officials. The ones they have now are a disaster.

​ Orange County Register 

Larry Elder: A nation divided and a world in turmoil

• March 30, 2023

A happy, upbeat friend does not watch television news, whether national or local, does not read a newspaper and avoids discussing politics, religion or even sports. Self-employed, he found out about something called the coronavirus while driving to work the day the California lockdown mandate began. That morning he encountered no traffic on the normally busy streets of Los Angeles and said, “What’s going on?!” It seems unthinkable that someone in his mid-to-late 30s could erect news blinders, especially when he, like most everyone else, uses a smartphone for personal and business matters. He even maintains a Facebook page to keep up with friends and family.

He does not know that since Joe Biden became president, five million migrants illegally entered the U.S. from over 100 foreign countries, their whereabouts now mostly unknown. Border patrol arrested dozens of border crossers on the terror watch list, with no telling how many entered undetected.

He does not know that America faces a crisis of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid more potent than heroin by as much as a factor of 50, and morphine by as much as a factor of 100, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. China supplies the precursor chemicals and Mexican cartels process, manufacture and bring the fentanyl into the United States. At 64,000 deaths among those aged 18 to 49 in 2021, fentanyl killed more than those who died from COVID-19, cancer and car accidents combined.

He knows nothing about a Donald Trump-hating Manhattan district attorney who might arrest and indict the former president under a legal theory that even The New York Times called “untested.” He does not know about the “weaponization” and collusion of the DOJ and Big Tech social media platforms to attack conservatives, stifle dissent about vaccine and mask mandates and suppress the cost-benefit debate about COVID-19 lockdowns. Among other things, the student learning loss suffered due to virtual versus in-school learning.

He knows nothing about communist China’s growing aggression, its increasing world power and our growing dependence on China for things not made here. We rely on China for vital “rare earth minerals” like lithium, cobalt and nickel — used in cellphones and electric vehicle batteries — that are either mined in China or in places under China’s control. Likely encouraged by Biden’s disastrous pull out of Afghanistan, Russia invaded Ukraine with Chinese support. World peace and freedom are now challenged unlike anything seen since World War II.

He knows nothing about how Iran, the world’s largest sponsor of terror, stands on the brink of making a nuclear bomb.

He knows nothing about how inflation, still at 40-year highs, decreased the value of bank holdings, is a major contributing factor to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and threatens the solvency of several more.

He is oblivious to today’s cancerous “cancel culture” professors, who disagree with reparations, race-based preferences, critical race theory and the DEI agenda, face denunciation by students and fellow faculty and termination by woke school administrators.

He, of course, knows about high gas prices but knows nothing the main contributing factor, Biden’s attack on oil and gas and his imposition of anti-fossil fuel policies and regulations.

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My friend has a short drive to work in a fairly safe area and knows little about rising crime, including violent crime, and the soft-on-crime policies of the current Los Angeles County DA. This denunciation of the “systemically racist” police has triggered an upsurge in crime not just in Los Angeles, but in other cities.

California has the country’s highest state income tax, ranks near the bottom in K-12 government schools despite spending over $20k per student, has a budget deficit of $20 billion and an unfunded pension liability at over $1.5 trillion, the highest in the nation. Housing prices at 175% above the national average helped drive a net population loss of 500,000 in the last three years.

My happy friend resembles the chain-smoker who grew tired of reading newspaper articles that linked cigarette smoking to cancer. So, he decided to stop… reading newspapers. Who knows? Maybe my friend has a point.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder.

​ Orange County Register 

Longtime Garden Grove school board member is running for mayor

• March 30, 2023

Lan Nguyen, a trustee at Garden Grove Unified School District, is running for mayor.

Nguyen, an attorney, wants to bring “renewed energy and optimism to City Hall,” he said.

“I have spent over 30 years fighting for the vulnerable people and advocating for my community,” said Nguyen. “Garden Grove will need a strong voice that speaks for the interest of its residents on a wide range of issues, from economic development to dealing with the need for more affordable housing.”

In the city’s leadership position, Nguyen wants to prioritize funding for public safety, transportation and economic development. He also says he has an understanding of the different demographic groups in Garden Grove, including the low-income immigrant community.

Nguyen was first elected to the school district role in 2002 before winning reelection six times over the years, including in 2022.

“My experience of serving 20 years in the school district will be the best asset this city can have in the election cycle,” Nguyen said. The needs of parents and students in the school district are similar to those of the greater community, Nguyen said, specifically pointing to access to affordable housing.

The 2024 mayoral contest will be an open-seat election to succeed Mayor Steve Jones, who faces term limits. In Garden Grove, the mayor cannot serve four consecutive two-year terms as mayor.

Recently, former Garden Grove councilmember Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen announced her candidacy for the seat as well.

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​ Orange County Register 

5 things to know about what may be distracting drivers on the road with you

• March 30, 2023

Travelers Cos. released its annual survey on the leading causes of distracted driving in the face of an alarming reality: more than 46,000 people die in preventable traffic crashes in the United States in 2022.

That’s up 9% from 2020, according to the National Safety Council, when the pandemic tightened its grip.

Chris Hayes, assistant vice president of workers compensation and transportation, risk control at the property-casualty insurance giant, said debate abounds about the role played by the pandemic in the rise in traffic fatalities and why distracted driving is increasing.

One theory gaining traction is that in the early days of the pandemic roadways were relatively deserted as people worked at home. That gave drivers the freedom to take more chances with their vehicles — driving faster and while doing so, using their cell phones for everything from checking Facebook to taking photos and even shopping, Hayes said.

“But a lot of those driving behaviors really haven’t changed,” Hayes said.

The Travelers survey — used to compile the Travelers Risk Index — found that 70% of drivers believe that distracted driving is more of a problem now than it was just a few years ago.

While the cell phone may be the biggest culprit in distracted driving, Hayes said even hands-free devices distract because the motor vehicle operator does not have full attention on the road.

The index, now in its fifth year, was compiled through a national online survey in January of 1,000 consumers in January, ages 18 to 69, about their perceptions and behavior pertaining to distracted driving. Separately, 1,116 executives from businesses of all sizes were surveyed. Both surveys were commissioned by Travelers and conducted by Hart Research.

The national survey found these causes of distraction behind the wheel:

1. Technology

Those responding to the survey said electronic devices were among the leading causes of distraction. Drivers admitted these behaviors while behind the wheel:

• 80% made or received calls.

• 57% used handheld devices.

• 28% posted social media updates.

•  27% took photos or videos.

2. State of Mind

The survey found:

• 75% of drivers said they experienced stress or intense emotions.

• 62% admitted to feeling drowsy.

3. Employer expectations

• 86% of business managers expect employees to respond to work-related communications at least sometimes while outside the office during work hours.

4.  Juggling work and driving

• 30% of business executives said their employees has been involved in crashes while working because they were driving distracted.

• 37% of workers said they have taken work-related calls, texts or emails while driving. When asked why, 44% said there might be a work-related emergency, while 43% said they felt they always needed to be available.

5. A reason to change behavior

The survey found:

• 84% would stop using their phone if a passenger asked.

• 83% would not use their phone if there was a financial reward.

• 82% would put down the phone if there was an insurance discount.

• 81% would reconsider using the phone if there were increased monetary fines.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at [email protected].

​ Orange County Register