LA man accused of exposing himself to girl, assaulting her at library in Irvine

• March 27, 2023

IRVINE — A Los Angeles man was arrested on suspicion of exposing himself to a 9-year-old girl and assaulting her at a public library in Irvine.

Police arrested 53-year-old Christopher Eduard on Friday near his home. He was released on bail Saturday, according to sheriff’s inmate records.

The girl had gone with her mother the evening of March 21 to the Orange County Public Libraries Irvine Heritage Park branch on Yale Avenue, according to Irvine police Lt. Bill Bingham.

“The victim was in the children’s section when Eduard approached her,” the lieutenant said. “He engaged the victim by asking her to help him film a video.

Eduard gave the victim his cell phone and held cue cards for her to read aloud. During the incident Eduard exposed himself and assaulted the 9-year-old.”

Detectives reviewed surveillance video at the library and surrounding area and discovered the suspect drove a green, 2019 Kia Soul, Bingham said. That led them to identify Eduard and arrest him.

“During the execution of a search warrant, evidence was located linking him to the crime,” he said.

“Detectives believe Eduard may be responsible for other crimes,” Bingham said.

He is described as white, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 125 pounds, with brown hair and eyes.

Anyone with information about the Irvine assault or can connect Eduard to other alleged cases could contact Det. Nate Ridlon at nridloncityofirvine.org

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​ Orange County Register 

Kings build early lead, beat Blues

• March 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES — If the Kings weren’t cognizant of the records they were setting, they certainly seemed eager to hit their marks as they slathered on five goals in the first period, but they needed all that scoring and more to earn a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Blues Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena.

They have now compiled the longest points streak in team history at 12 games and equaled the lengthiest home points streak in franchise lore with at least one point in 13 straight. Even though the Kings, to a man, said they weren’t watching such statistics closely and they snapped a string of 10 straight games with two goals or fewer allowed, they certainly appreciated the steam they were gathering as April’s postseason loomed.

“I don’t think that game that we played or brought to the rink tonight, in the last 50 minutes of the game, will get us a lot of wins in the playoffs. But the other games in the homestand will give us a chance,” Coach Todd McLellan said.

The Kings leapt back within two points of the top overall record in the Western Conference, magnifying the importance of an April 6 clash in Vegas with the first-place Golden Knights. Since Jan. 22, the Kings have picked up 80% of all possible points, the best rate in the NHL with Vegas’ 73.1% positioning as the next best team in the West and third best overall during that span.

Wingers Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe each potted a pair of goals with Arvidsson also notching an assist. Trevor Moore, who moved to center Sunday while Blake Lizotte served a one-game suspension, contributed a goal and an assist. Winger Alex Iafallo and defenseman Drew Doughty had a goal apiece. Defenseman Sean Durzi and winger Kevin Fiala both returned from early-March injuries, and their two-assist performances lagged behind only center Phillip Danault’s game high of three. Pheonix Copley plodded toward his 23rd win by making 16 of 22 saves.

Blues forward Jordan Kyrou tallied twice. Winger Brandon Saad, defenseman Justin Faulk, center Pavel Buchnevich and winger Kasperi Kapanen also found the net for St. Louis. Faulk added an assist while linemates Sammy Blais and Robert Thomas each chipped in two helpers. Joel Hofer stopped just 12 of 17 shots before being relieved by Jordan Binnington.

The Kings scored at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded, and all before the halfway mark of the first period Sunday.

They wasted little time as Arvidsson precisely placed a shot from the left dot just inside the near post a mere 27 seconds into the game. The Kings had scored in the first 90 seconds of three of their last four periods, including an early goal by Arvidsson to ignite the scoring in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

A tic-tac-toe play with the extra man extended the Kings’ edge to two goals before the three-minute mark. Danault slid the puck low to Arvidsson, who slipped it across the crease for an Iafallo tap-in, his 12th goal of the season. After scoring four power-play goals all year, Iafallo has one in each of his last two games.

To complete the variety pack, Moore won a puck battle in the neutral zone and dropped the puck to Kempe during a penalty kill. He rambled onward and let fly with a tough-angle shot from the top of the right circle that caught a chunk of Hofer’s glove on its way past him on the short side at 7:35.

St. Louis did find some respite during the deluge, getting a power-play marker off Saad’s shot from the slot 29 seconds after the Kings’ third goal.

The Kings restored their three-goal lead with a second power-play goal with as 5:30 displayed on the clock. A failed clearing attempt was intercepted along the wall at the blue line by Durzi before he alertly fired a seam pass to Arvidsson at the backdoor for a tap-in tally. Arvidsson’s second consecutive multi-goal performance was his fourth of the campaign and brought his total to 24.

They cushioned their lead with the second unit’s third power-play goal of the first period when Moore deflected Danault’s shot home for his ninth goal of the campaign, sending Hofer to the bench and summoning Binnington.

“We’ve got good chemistry, obviously, skilled players making skilled plays, and the execution was there,” Durzi said.

St. Louis cut their deficit to three just over three minutes into the middle frame. A contentious sequence settled the puck onto Faulk’s stick before he let a slap shot rip from the right point for his ninth goal of the year.

Arvidsson had opportunities to complete a hat trick in the second period, most notably the second penalty shot of his career just after the game’s midpoint. Unlike his first one, he failed to convert.

The Blues clawed back a goal off the counterattack and then halved their deficit with the extra man, making it 5-4.

First, Blais drew both Kings defensemen to him and found a wide open Buchnevich for goal No. 24 of 2022-23 with 3:55 left in the stanza.

Ninety seconds later, Kyrou breathed life into the Blues with a power-play goal, his team-leading 32nd tally.

Yet the Kings wouldn’t stay in a tight affair for long, 4:37 into the third period, Kempe set a new career high with his 36th goal and gave the Kings breathing room with a one-timer from between the circles.

“It’s pretty easy playing with the guy next to me, he feeds me a lot of pucks and it’s up to me to put it in the net,” said Kempe, referring to captain Anze Kopitar. “I’m happy that I can live up to the expectations.”

Kempe’s marker elicited an exchange of goals between the two sides. First, Kapanen scored his seventh goal in 14 games as a Blue and his second in two meetings with the Kings, 8:11 into the closing stanza.

Just 39 seconds later, Doughty struck back with a power-play goal of his own off a slap shot from the point. Doughty has five goals and seven points in his last six outings.

That goal stood as the game-winner after Kyrou added a second tally, his 33rd, with 49 seconds to play.

​ Orange County Register 

Swanson: Angel City has momentum, now it just needs to win

• March 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES – By just about any metric, Angel City Football Club was a rousing success last season, its first in existence.

Sellout crowds – for women’s soccer! Thousands of season ticket holders, 90% of whom reportedly re-upped for Season 2. Revenues reportedly in the mid-seven figures for sales of merch, which was gobbled up by fans in every state and 46 countries. And there are all those high-profile investors and sponsorship dollars galore.

All that, and 10% of every sponsorship dollar goes to community programs.

See, just about any metric – winners.

Just about.

Everywhere but on the scoreboard. In the National Women’s Soccer League standings. The part of the measuring stick that matters most if we’re talking about what this is: Professional sport.

Angel City finished eighth and missed the playoffs in its debut season, going 8-9-5. In 22 matches, it gave up 27 goals and scored just 23, the third fewest in the league. (And it’s hard to make the yeah-but-expansion-team argument when the brand-new San Diego Wave FC finished third and made the playoffs in its first season.)

On Sunday, Angel City started its sophomore season on the wrong foot, letting momentum get away in a 2-1 loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC. Two pivotal calls got overturned after reviews with the newly instituted video assisted referee (VAR), leading to a letdown before another packed crowd at the newly named BMO Stadium.

Those folks won’t go home unhappy.

Eleven minutes into her pro soccer career, the kid — Harvard Westlake’s Alyssa Thompson — puts it in the back of the net. Wow. pic.twitter.com/ibk5mSoZsX

— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) March 27, 2023

For one, they can say they saw Alyssa Thompson’s first pro goal: The Harvard Westlake senior and NWSL No. 1 overall draft pick was electric, regularly sending a current through the crowd with her sprints down the left side. And she needed only 11 minutes to score, slipping into a pocket of space just outside the box and booming a strike off the goalkeeper’s mitt and into the top corner of the net.

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Another key thing: Angel City matches are an event and will remain that way for as far as I can see into the future. There are fan festivities outside the stadium before the match and a social atmosphere that’s welcoming for all, and that’s lovely, something to celebrate in and of itself.

But still, those folks booed the referees on their way off the pitch, aggrieved after having watched VAR giveth and taketh away so cruelly, after seeing Jun Endo’s booming 40-yard score on the heels of Thompson’s overturned after a review that found a previously uncalled foul. And another review that set up Midge Purce’s tying penalty kick in the second half, which preceded Lynn Williams’ winner.

Because for all the headline-making of Angel City’s long A-list of investors – Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and family recently joined an ownership group that also includes owners include Natalie Portman, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, Serena Williams and husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, as well as Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, WNBA star Candace Parker and many, many others – the question now: Will the team on the pitch play its A game?

The team with the star-studded ownership group is getting its own docu-series on HBO Max. It’s got star power on the field, too, including the rookie whose life her Harvard Westlake teammate likened to a Disney movie in their school paper.

Will these big ballers’ brand of soccer live up to its sky-high hype? That’s the billion dollar question for Angel City, the team with its sights sets on claiming a billion-dollar valuation in five years.

The pressure is on, and the women can feel it.

“Teams are gonna want to come here and shut the crowd up,” defender Ali Riley said. “They’re gonna want to show, ‘This is this team that everyone talks about.’ So I think there’s that added. We have the support of our crowd, but other teams are extra motivated when they come here so when they see that we start making mistakes, so they want to punish us. That’s why we weren’t able to get a grip on the game again. But we’re going to have to do that.”

“We are happy that the game is taking notice,” coach Freya Coombe said. “That’s the way the game’s gonna grow, that’s the way audiences are gonna grow, that’s the way that these women and these athletes’ brands are gonna grow, and can get the support that they deserve.

“So we’re happy that the world is watching. Now it’s about us playing a brand of soccer that is going to excite people and be successful.”

Angel City, which won its opener last season but then only seven more times all season, will have 21 more chances this regular season. And Los Angeles’ team will have plenty of support — and some pressure — as it strives to add some tallies in another significant win column.

​ Orange County Register 

Crews knock down three-alarm fire at Santa Ana warehouse

• March 27, 2023

A fire that broke out at a warehouse in Santa Ana on Sunday evening, March 26, was knocked down in little over an hour, authorities said.

Around 8 p.m., fire had already begun to spread through the roof when crews arrived at the warehouse in the 2200 block of Susan Street, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Sean Doran. The fire was upgraded to a third-alarm fire around 8:30 p.m., and roughly 80 firefighters were at the scene, including from neighboring agencies from Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach.

Firefighters remained in a defensive position working to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding buildings before the fire was extinguished around 9:15 p.m., Doran said.

None of the surrounding buildings were damaged, but the fire downed electrical wires along Susan Street. SoCal Edison crews were at the scene working to repair the lines.

It was not immediately clear what was stored in the warehouse but hazardous materials teams remained at the warehouse Sunday night.

No injuries were reported.

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​ Orange County Register 

Alyssa Thompson scores first regular-season goal as Angel City FC loses opener

• March 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Alyssa Thompson scored within five minutes in her preseason home debut earlier this month.

Sunday, in the regular-season opener for Angel City, the Harvard-Westlake senior and No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, waited a little longer, scoring in the 11th minute in front of a sellout crowd of 22,000 at BMO Stadium.

ALYSSA THOMPSON ARE YOU KIDDING? pic.twitter.com/wT0Tg0J6Pt

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 27, 2023

“I’m sure she has a lot of pressure on her shoulders, I think she had a great game, I think it was an incredible goal and I just see her as someone who has a bright future,” Angel City FC defender and captain Ali Riley said of Thompson. “I think it’s the first of many and she’s lived up to all of the hype and it is someone we’re going to rely on to score goals.”

Unfortunately, for Thompson and Angel City FC, the joy didn’t last the night as visiting NJ/NY Gotham FC scored twice in the second half to come away with a 2-1 win.

Gotham FC got on the board in the 51st minute on a successful penalty kick by Midge Purce. Gotham’s Svava Guomundsdottir was fouled by Angel City goalkeeper Didi Haracic. Initially, the referee didn’t call a foul, but moments later he stopped play and went to take a look at the video review and eventually signaled for the penalty.

In the 64th minute, with the game stretched, Purce had room down the center and fed Lynn Williams on her right for the finish and the 2-1 lead.

It was a frustrating night for Angel City, both on the field and at the video review.

In the first half, Jun Endo scored from approximately 40 yards out, getting the ball over Gotham FC goalkeeper Abby Smith’s head. However, the goal was disallowed after the referee went to video review due to a foul committed by Angel City in the build-up.

“When we didn’t get the VAR decision our way, we let down some momentum and that’s something we’re going to have to better, to be able to be more consistent through 90 minutes,” Riley said. “I do think there were times when we looked really, really good and dangerous and when we take our foot off the pedal, every team in this league is going to be good enough to punish you.

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“I think we got a little bit sloppy with the ball and then our defending, we gave them too much space and they have really good players, so we can’t let things out of our control affect us.”

This is the first season that the NWSL is using VAR. On the first instance, a foul occurred away from where Endo picked up the ball and didn’t appear to have a bearing on the play.

“That goal (by Endo) was top class,” Angel City coach Freya Coombe said. “When we had our training in terms of VAR, it was understood that for a decision to be overturned, it had to be a clear and obvious error …I’m interested to see if the decision is clear and obvious, why did it take so long to be making a decision and looking at replay after replay.”

Angel City will look to get on track next week as the club visits the Orlando Pride.

“We started off really strong,” Riley said. “Hard work and heart are really important things, but we do want our football to even better. We want to take care of the ball more, we want to defend in packs, hunt in packs, we want this to be a fortress when we play here. We want to pride ourselves on not conceding goals and that’s something for us to work on.”

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ Mike Trout reflects on Shohei Ohtani, World Baseball Classic

• March 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Not long after the strikeout heard ’round the world, Mike Trout began solidifying his goals for the 2023 season.

The sights, sounds and emotions of high-stakes baseball were still fresh, when Trout pulled his phone from his back pocket late Tuesday night and reached out to Angels manager Phil Nevin.

Earlier that evening in Miami, Trout faced off against teammate Shohei Ohtani in an at-bat that captivated all of baseball. With Team USA down a run, Trout had a chance to be a hero but Ohtani won the duel with a strikeout, giving Japan the World Baseball Classic title.

“As soon as it was over, on the bus heading back, I texted (Nevin) and said, ‘I needed this. I needed to play in this atmosphere. I needed to experience it and be in the moment,’” Trout said Sunday from the first-base dugout at Dodger Stadium. “It made me feel and think how bad we want to get back to the playoffs.

“Obviously we did it in (2014), but that atmosphere as a baseball player, as a competitor, that’s where you want to play. You want to be in that moment. It was just a special few days.”

Trout and Ohtani were together Sunday for the first time since that moment.

“Yeah, I gave him a hug,” Trout said. “He’s a special talent. He’s got great stuff. He had an unbelievable tournament. They just beat us.”

Now the dynamic duo is unified in the hope of having similar experiences together in an Angels uniform.

When the Angels made it to the 2014 postseason, Trout’s Angels lost all three games they played against the Kansas City Royals. He had just one hit in 12 at-bats. Considered one of the best to ever play the game, Trout had not appeared in the playoffs until that moment and he hasn’t been back since.

The playoffs have always been Trout’s goal and this spring’s WBC only made him want it more.

“It was obvious that’s what everybody wanted to see,” Trout said of his showdown with Ohtani. “It was fun at-bat. He threw me a nasty 3-2 pitch. I missed some heaters before that. He’s a good pitcher, obviously.”

But Trout has known that all along. He didn’t need a breathtaking moment in a title-deciding at-bat to realize it.

“There was only one thing on my mind, trying to barrel a ball,” Trout said. “Obviously, with all of Shohei’s pitches, everything is moving every which way. He didn’t throw me a split that whole at-bat. That was in the back of my mind. And then he threw me a nasty slider 3-2.

“It wasn’t the way I wanted it to turn out but it was a fun battle. We’re both competing up there and that was my first time, obviously, seeing him.

Told of Trout’s heightened desire to return to the playoffs, Nevin said the micro view will take care of the macro desires.

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“We come out and take care of our business every day, things will fall into the right places,” Nevin said. “I’ve been asked the questions all the time. Is this the year? Do we have to? Is there a sense of urgency? I think any time when you have a roster like ours and you have expectations within our room like we do, every day is a sense of urgency.

“If we don’t, then I think we’re doing your teammates a sense of injustice, the fans, the organization. So every day, to me, is a sense of urgency because we understand what’s ahead of us.”

To get there, the Angels will have to buck a long run of substandard play. They have a losing record in seven consecutive seasons and eight seasons without seeing postseason play.

Trout and Ohtani might have four MVPs between them but sharing the field in October has priority. With Ohtani moving into free agency following the season, there might not be a better time to get to the playoffs than now.

“Every time you start a season, anything less than the playoffs is a disappointment,” Trout said. “There ain’t any way else to look at it. If you don’t make the playoffs it’s a disappointment for sure.

STASSI SETBACK

Away from the club for personal reasons, catcher Max Stassi returned to Arizona and played in a minor league game Sunday before he departed with hip soreness.

Although the injury was not deemed serious, all signs point to Stassi opening the season on the injured list. If the Angels make the IL move, it would allow top prospect Logan O’Hoppe to make the club.

“(Stassi) felt like it was important to get back and try to ramp up a little bit and unfortunately, he had a little hip thing today,” Nevin said.

ONE MORE DAY

Infielder David Fletcher underwent treatment for a groin injury early Sunday in Anaheim and was not on hand for Sunday’s game. Nevin said Fletcher will undergo treatment again and could play in Monday’s game against the Dodgers.

Third baseman Anthony Rendon also was not on hand Sunday. Nevin said Rendon’s daughter broke her arm in an accident at home and he told his veteran to remain with his family.

​ Orange County Register 

David Toms claims Galleri for 2nd Champions win of the season

• March 27, 2023

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — David Toms fired a 7-under 65 Sunday for a four-stroke, wire-to-wire win at The Galleri Classic to become the first two-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions this season.

Toms closed out his second win in three starts and fourth Champions victory with an eight-birdie, one-bogey performance at Mission Hills Country Club to claim the $330,000 winner’s share.

Steven Alker of New Zealand used a round of five birdies — four on the back nine — to finish alone in second after a closing 67.

Retief Goosen had a final-round 65 and tied Paul Stankowski (66) for third at 11 under. Vijay Singh (68), Padraig Harrington (68), Miguel Angel Jiménez (68), Steve Stricker (69) and Mario Tiziani (67) were at 10 under.

Toms added the Galleri title to his win at the Cologuard Classic earlier this month for his first multiple-win season on the over-50 tour since joining in 2017. The win vaulted him into first place in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

“I’ve just enjoyed playing good golf right now, off to a good start,” the 56-year-old Toms said. “I haven’t really been part of the Charles Schwab Cup at the end, haven’t even been close, so that’s kind of my goal this year is to try to get close, give myself a chance late in the season.”

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The inaugural event was contested on the same Mission Hills layout where the LPGA formerly contested its first major of the season for 50 years. Chevron has taken over as the title sponsor of that event and moved the major to Houston.

Toms found the par-72, 7,112-yard course to be a tough layout that put a premium on accuracy off the tee.

“It was a really good test, you had to keep the ball in the fairway, which was very difficult,” said Toms, who ranked first in driving accuracy by hitting 33 of 42 fairways and led the field with 20 birdies. “Just enough rough to make you think.

“Greens got firm, so you really need to be in the fairway. Fortunate for me, I kept it in the fairway for the most part. If not, I always had a shot where I had an open green or something, and the putter felt really good the last few days.”

Bernhard Langer, who was trying to win his record 46th title on the PGA Tour Champions, finished in a tie for 20th at 6 under after a final-round 69.

​ Orange County Register 

Laguna Woods water tower: Come for the view, stay for the serenity

• March 27, 2023

When I moved three years ago to a condo on Via Serena South in Laguna Woods, I had no idea our community had a “lighthouse-looking” structure atop a nearby knoll.

Thinking it was a defunct water tower, I checked out the Village History Center and learned that it’s actually a surge tower above a potable water pipeline owned jointly by several water districts and operated by the South Coast Water District. While the pipeline is on Village property, it doesn’t supply water to us because our water comes from the El Toro Water District.

On road trips, I’ve always been fascinated with water tower shapes, sizes and colors. Apparently, the size and shape are determined by its intended use.

If a tower is holding water for a small area nearby, most likely it will be squatty and sitting on the ground. Towering tanks visible from miles away can hold as much as 1.5 million gallons and provide water for large metropolitan areas.

In Gaffney, South Carolina, a popular tourist attraction known as the Giant Peach is actually a water tower that sits upon a 150-foot structure and holds 1 million gallons.

Water towers are very active inside. When demand is low during the night, they will fill up with water pumped at a treatment plant that is then used during daytime hours. Stored water is especially important during a power outage since electricity isn’t required for the available water to flow out of the tank.

In big cities like New York, many apartment and office buildings have water towers on top of their roofs. Some are iconic, such as the Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower in Collinsville, Illinois, and Rochester, Minnesota’s corn-shaped water tower.

Even though I referred to our surge tower as lighthouse-looking, lighthouse fans say otherwise because water towers are functional, and lighthouses are mystifying.

A lighthouse is considered to be a beacon of hope for distant travelers and a source of solitude for the caretaker. Both purposes conjure up feelings of mystery and romance. Lighthouses have become such popular tourist attractions that many have been converted into bed and breakfasts.

Even though our surge tower isn’t a lighthouse or tourist attraction, it’s definitely worth a visit at the end of cul-de-sac 306. Along with a picturesque white tower, you’ll find stunning views amongst the serenity of pine trees plus benches and chairs.

You can bring a picnic meal, do some tai chi or meditate. You could even be serenaded by the gentle sounds of an occasional clarinetist. It’s our little slice of heaven.

Writer, editor and speaker Cheryl Russell is a Laguna Woods Village resident. Contact her at [email protected].

​ Orange County Register