‘Fresh Off the Boat’ star Randall Park to be 2023 UCLA commencement speaker

• April 12, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Actor, comedian and writer Randall Park will deliver the keynote address at all three UCLA College commencement ceremonies on June 16, the school announced Wednesday.

“As a proud Bruin, I am deeply honored to be delivering the keynote address for the class of 2023,” Park — best known as Louis Huang, the father in the former ABC sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat” — said in a statement released by the school.

In a likely tipoff to the tone he’ll take when he addresses the graduates, the comedian went on to say, “In my humble opinion, there is no one better to connect with these young minds than me: a 49-year-old man who is not on social media and still listens to Wham!

“My hope is to inspire, uplift, encourage, stimulate and other synonyms for the word ‘inspire.’”

The commencements are scheduled for 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. June 16 at Pauley Pavilion.

Park was born in Los Angeles to Korean immigrant parents. His mother worked as an accountant on the UCLA campus, and Park earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in Asian American studies, from the school in 1997. He got his master’s degree in Asian American studies in 1999.

As an undergraduate, Park was a co-founder of Lapu, the Coyote that Cares Theatre Company — an Asian American troupe that carries on to this day. In 2019, he also started Imminent Collision, “dedicated to developing comedy-forward stories from Asian American perspectives for all audiences.”

Besides “Fresh Off the Boat,” Park’s numerous credits include appearances on such TV shows as “The Office,” “Veep” and the mini-series “WandaVision.”

On the big screen, he has appeared in the “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Aquaman” franchises, along with “The Interview,” playing North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

He made his directorial debut with the film “Shortcomings,” which premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival.

The June 16 keynote speeches will not be Park’s first return to UCLA since his student days. He has been an alumni volunteer at UCLA UniCamp — earning the 2016 Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year award — and also was keynote speaker at the 2017 English department commencement.

“Through his artistry and activism, Randall Park has opened countless doors for others and advocated for a more just and equal world,” said Miguel García-Garibay, senior dean of the UCLA College and dean of physical sciences.

“He is a true Bruin in every sense, and we know his wit and wisdom will inspire our graduating seniors to blaze their own trails and create a better future.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Trial begins for man accused of decades-old Santa Ana slaying of roommate

• April 12, 2023

Decades after a man was found stabbed to death in a Santa Ana home, opening statements Wednesday in the murder trial of a former roommate tied to the case through forensic evidence focused on whether the slaying was part of a robbery turned deadly or an act of self-defense.

Edgar Ortega Cervantes, now 52, is facing a first-degree murder charge, along with a use of a deadly weapon enhancement, for the June 27, 1996 killing of 24-year-old Julio Franco in a home in the 500 block of South Spruce Street. Cervantes left the country immediately after Franco’s death, authorities say, but was identified as the suspected killer more than a decade later before being arrested in Mexico and extradited back to the United States to stand trial.

As his trial began in a Santa Ana courtroom on Wednesday morning, Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt told a Superior Court jury that Cervantes killed Franco while trying to rob him in the home the two men shared with many other occupants. Senior Deputy Public Defender Alisha Montoro countered that Franco was the one who attacked Cervantes in his own room, forcing Cervantes to act in self-defense.

Another roommate discovered Franco’s body in a bathtub, his face down and his legs up against the wall, leaving a pool of blood emptying into the drain. Officers found blood drops and stains throughout the home, as well as a buck knife and bloody shirt near the entrance to a crawl space outside the residence.

Cervantes — who was among many men living at the home while working odd jobs — was gone by the time officers arrived, the prosecutor said, leaving his belongings behind.

“He leaves the day of the murder and never returns, never,” Hunt told jurors.

It wasn’t until a Santa Ana Police Department cold-case task force re-opened the investigation in 2008 that DNA testing was conducted of the surviving evidence. Both Cervantes and Franco’s DNA were found on the buck knife, the prosecutor said, and Cervantes DNA was also found on the bloody shirt discovered outside the home.

A woman who had been living with Cervantes at the Santa Ana home along with the couple’s young baby until days before Franco’s death later told police that Cervantes had met up with her in Mexico after the slaying and told her that he killed Franco while trying to rob him, the prosecutor said.

Montoro said Franco, who owned a truck, was known to other people living at the home as “the junk man,” and was considered suspicious and strange. Montoro noted that the shirt police found with Cervantes’ blood on it was ripped and torn and that his room had been “trashed,” which the defense attorney described as evidence that Cervantes had been attacked and forced to defend himself in his bedroom.

“Franco, the junk man, had no business in his room,” Montoro said, noting that when detectives eventually spoke to Cervantes he told them that “in 1996 I did a bad thing but it was in self-defense.”

Montoro described the initial detectives as conducting a poor investigation that focused on taking some pictures and collecting some blood without focusing on DNA or interviewing many of the people who lived at the home.

Montoro also alleged that the woman who told police that Cervantes had described the killing as taking part during a robbery was estranged from Cervantes by the time she spoke to investigators and had already been tipped off by someone else that detectives believed Cervantes had killed Franco. As a result, the defense attorney said, the woman told police exactly what she thought they wanted to hear.

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Prince Harry will attend father’s coronation, Meghan won’t

• April 12, 2023

By DANICA KIRKA

LONDON — Prince Harry will attend his father’s coronation, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about whether the prince would be welcome after leveling charges of racism and media manipulation at the royal family.

His wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain at the couple’s home in Southern California with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said. A nearly identical statement from the Sussex’s representatives confirmed the news.

The May 6 date of the coronation at Westminster Abbey coincides with their son’s birthday.

While the announcement should silence the “will he or won’t he” debate in the British media, it won’t end the royal soap opera swirling around Harry and Meghan as King Charles III prepares for his coronation.

When the prince attended the funerals of his grandfather, Prince Philip, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, commentators discussed everything from whether Harry would be allowed to wear his military uniform to exactly where he was seated. And there is always the question of whether he will meet face-to-face with his father and older brother, Prince William.

That intrigue will only be heightened after Harry and Meghan stoked their critique of the royal family in a six-part Netflix series about their decision to step back from royal duties three years ago, which was followed by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling memoir “Spare.”

Harry and Meghan, who is biracial, have alleged she faced racist attitudes from both the palace and the U.K. press. The treatment contributed to their decision to leave the country.

The revelations in “Spare,” including details of private conversations with his father and brother, Prince William, fanned tensions between Harry and his family that became public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.

The book also included allegations that members of the royal family regularly feed the press unflattering information about other members of the House of Windsor in exchange for positive coverage of themselves.

The prince singled out Camilla, the queen consort, accusing her of leaking private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after marrying Charles. Camilla was once reviled for her long-term affair with Charles, which contributed to the breakdown of his marriage to the late Prince Diana, Harry and William’s mother.

The acrimony between Harry and his family once again spilled into public view last month when the Sussexes said that they had been asked to vacate their home in Britain.

Frogmore Cottage, a royal residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London, was the couple’s main residence before they gave up royal duties and moved to Montecito, a wealthy enclave in Southern California.

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California attorney general asks judge to sanction LA County if it doesn’t fix juvenile halls

• April 12, 2023

The California Department of Justice has asked a Superior Court judge to sanction Los Angeles County if it doesn’t fix “illegal and unsafe conditions” at two county-run juvenile halls within 120 days, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday, April 12.

The DOJ wants the judge to intervene because the county has not complied with the terms of a prior court judgment for more than two years. That judgment required the county to maintain adequate staff levels to ensure the youth detainees receive the educational, medical and recreational services they’re entitled to, Bonta said.

But due to an ongoing staffing crisis, Bonta’s office said, the county has not only failed to make the required improvements, it is now “regressing in areas where some progress had been achieved,” according to the motion. Violations are “severe and ongoing, and youth and staff are at serious risk of harm,” states the DOJ motion.

“The conditions within the juvenile detention centers in Los Angeles County are appalling,” Bonta said in a statement. “For justice-involved youth in particular, it is imperative that our institutions give them every opportunity for rehabilitation, growth, and healing. We are responsible for protecting justice-involved youth and ensuring they receive educational, health, and supportive services necessary to stop the cycle of incarceration.”

The enforcement motion filed Wednesday, which includes sanctions for noncompliance, would require the county to:

Provide “timely transport” of youth to school daily or provide services to make up those lost hours.
Ensure that youth have access to the outdoors daily.
Document and review all use-of-force incidents.
Install video cameras at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall.
Implement “a positive behavior management plan.”

Data provided by the Los Angeles County Office of Education indicate students at Barry J. Nidorf and Central juvenile halls lost 617 hours and 174 hours of education, respectively, in February 2023 due to the Probation Department’s inability to transport youths to school.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta. (AP File Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The Department of Justice motion comes just days after an L.A. County Office of Inspector General report that found lax security measures — compounded by the staffing issues — have allowed drugs, including fentanyl, to be easily smuggled into the two juvenile halls. Two teens overdosed in a two-day period, including one teen who overdosed, went to the hospital and then overdosed again on the day they returned.

The enforcement motion states that youths are forced to urinate in their rooms during the night shift “due in part to continued lack of staffing.”

Employees are regularly required to work more than 24-hour-long shifts and the county is relying on, in some cases, temporarily reassigned field officers without the proper training, the DOJ said.

The Board of State and Community Corrections is set to vote Thursday, April 13, on whether to declare the two juvenile halls “unsuitable,” a designation that would force the county to empty the correctional facilities within 60 days if the Probation Department is unable to address 39 items of noncompliance.

Interim Chief Probation Officer Karen Fletcher, who took the reins after the Board of Supervisors fired her predecessor last month, has submitted an updated corrective action plan to the state agency and asked for 90 days to implement the fixes. BSCC in March denied an earlier version after determining it did not “provide enough detail” about its specific plan and did not have a “reasonable timeframe for resolution.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

​ Orange County Register 

HBO and Discovery programming to be combined in $16/month Max offering

• April 12, 2023

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | AP Technology Writer

Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled a streaming service Wednesday combining iconic HBO programming such as “The Sopranos” with a mix of unscripted TV series in a push to reap more subscribers from what so far has been a muddled media merger.

The $16-per-month service, called Max, will be released May 23 in the U.S. and automatically replace the company’s existing HBO Max service in what is being promised as a seamless transition.

The existing Discovery Plus app featuring reality and unscripted series such as “Fixer Upper” and “Naked and Afraid” from a collection of TV networks will continue to be offered. That’s even as all that programming is made available within the new Max app, which will be marketed with the tagline “The One To Watch.”

The transition comes a year after the completion of a roughly $43 billion deal that spun off the AT&T’s WarnerMedia Division that includes HBO, CNN and TBS into Discovery, whose stable includes the TLC, HGTV, Magnolia and Food networks.

When the deal was announced in 2021, Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav envisioned it creating “the best media company in the world” backed by a vast library of movies, TV series, documentaries and children’s programming. The goal was to stand out among an array of streaming options competing for subscribers at a time many households are trimming discretionary spending amid stubbornly high inflation.

With Max now on the verge of rolling out, Zaslav said he still sees big things ahead.

“This is our rendezvous with destiny,” he declared during a presentation in the same studio where movies such as “Casablanca” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” were made. Those movies, as well as other Warner Bros. films, will be available in Max, which Zaslav hailed as “the streaming version of must-see TV.”

Given that the Max app will bring more pedestrian programming from the Discovery networks alongside the boundary-breaking series that have been HBO’s hallmark, Warner Bros. Discovery executives periodically emphasized HBO would remain the same groundbreaking network that recently caused a stir with the series “The Last of Us,” and is currently making waves with the final season of “Succession.”

Toward that end, the company said it would be announcing another offshoot of its most watched series, “Game of Thrones,” and is developing a new live-action “Harry Potter” series featuring a different cast from the popular film franchise based on the books by J.K. Rowling.

Warner Bros. Discovery is hoping the Max app helps turn the tide after a year of turbulence.

Since taking over the combined company, Zaslav has been shedding thousands workers and slashing other expenses to cope with the roughly $50 billion debt that the company took on largely because of the merger. The cost cutting included a decision to pull the plug on CNN’s streaming service a month after its launch in a move that quickly raised doubts about whether the Warner Bros. Discovery deal would turn out to be a flop.

The ongoing skepticism has been reflected in New York-based Warner Bros. Discovery’s stock price, which has dropped by more than 40% since the merger’s completion, including further erosion Wednesday that occurred after the company laid out its plans for the Max app.

Shares in Netflix, the world’s top streaming services, have fallen by 7% during same stretch amid concerns about its own slowing growth, which included a loss of 920,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada territory in 2022 that represents its biggest market.

Netflix, which ended last year with 231 million worldwide subscribers, is just one of a bevy of deep-pocketed streamers that the new Max app will be competing against. Other notables include Apple, Amazon, and Walt Disney Co., which offers apps for Hulu TV and ESPN in addition to Disney Plus.

The stiff competition prompted Netflix to introduce a lower-cost streaming plan that includes ads, an option that Max will offer for $10 per month for viewers willing to tolerate periodic commercial interruptions.

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GOP-controlled Arizona House ousts Republican lawmaker

• April 12, 2023

By Kyung Lah and Anna-Maja Rappard | CNN

State Rep. Liz Harris was expelled Wednesday from the Arizona House of Representatives for ethics violations resulting from inviting a conspiracy theorist to publicly testify before lawmakers earlier this year.

The resolution to expel the first-term Republican, elected in November, stated that she had brought “disrepute and embarrassment to the House of Representatives,” resulting in “disorderly behavior.” Forty-six Arizona representatives in the GOP-controlled House voted to remove her from her elected position, meeting a two-thirds threshold to expel lawmakers. Thirteen members opposed her expulsion.

CNN reached out to Harris at her legislative office and personal number. She has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.

Arizona Rep. Lupe Diaz, a fellow Republican, voted to expel Harris, saying on the House floor, “We need to have integrity in the institution, and I do not take this vote lightly. I do vote yes.”

Rep. Alex Kolodin, also a Republican, defended Harris ahead of the vote. “They [the public] will perceive that they don’t have a true voice in this body because when they elect somebody to rock the boat, and she does it … admittedly in the wrong way … a way that should have been better considered, that that member will be expelled. So, in order to protect this body, to preserve public trust and confidence in us and more importantly in the legislature as a means for being the peoples voice, and bringing about real change, I do sadly but resolutely vote no.”

When the resolution was passed, a voice off camera could be heard yelling, “Shame on you. Shame, shame, shame!”

The Arizona Legislature live stream then cut off.

In February, Harris had invited Jacqueline Breger to present findings of what Breger and Harris claimed were an investigation. Breger spewed a number of lies and attacks against public officials, including Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. One of those lies spread on social media and resulted in Hobbs responding with a joke before cameras saying, “No, I am not involved with the Sinaloa cartel. I’m not taking bribes from them and I’m not laundering their money.”

Harris is a well-known conspiracy theorist and election denier in Arizona. She was a constant figure during the GOP-led review of Maricopa County’s 2020 ballots. Election experts condemned the review calling it an attempt to overturn the state’s election results.

Arizona House Democrats issued a statement supporting the expulsion, saying that “misinformation, lies and conspiracies are not harmless, and it’s not just politics.” They noted that the lies presented in Breger’s televised testimony were picked up by partisan media and social media influencers.

“The integrity of our institution was damaged in that moment. That damage continues to accumulate, and for that there must be accountability,” House Democrats said in their statement.

​ Orange County Register 

Bank turmoil led Fed officials to forecast fewer rate hikes

• April 12, 2023

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER | AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON — Turmoil in the banking system after two major banks collapsed led many Federal Reserve officials to envision fewer rate increases this year out of concern that banks will reduce their lending and weaken the economy.

The heightened uncertainty surrounding the banking sector also helped Fed officials coalesce around their decision to raise their benchmark rate by just a quarter-point, rather than a half-point, at their meeting March 21-22, according to the meeting minutes.

The Fed also revealed Wednesday that its staff economists have forecast that a pullback in bank lending will cause a “mild recession” starting later this year. That is a shift from their previous estimates, which had predicted that the economy would eke out positive growth this year. If the impact of the banking turmoil ends up being less than economists’ forecasts, a recession might be avoided, the minutes suggested.

RELATED: Cheaper gas and food provide some relief from US inflation

Overall, the minutes showed that the banking troubles have injected significant uncertainty into the Fed’s decision-making and reversed an emerging trend to keep raising rates aggressively to quell inflation. At their meeting last month, Fed officials projected that they will raise their benchmark short-term rate — which affects many consumer and business loans — just once more this year, in May.

Fed officials who spoke this week have also emphasized the importance of monitoring bank lending. There are already reports of small companies struggling to obtain loans, though it’s not yet clear how widespread the impact will be.

Before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, many Fed officials had said they expected to forecast more than one additional hike this year because economic and inflation data showed that they still had more to do to control the pace of price increases. But according to the minutes of last month’s meeting, Fed officials agreed that the collapse of the two large banks “would likely lead to some weakening of credit conditions,” as banks sought to preserve capital by curtailing lending to consumers and businesses.

Several officials said they had considered supporting leaving rates unchanged at last month’s meeting. But they added that actions by the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to protect depositors had “helped calm conditions” in banking and reduced the risks to the economy in the short run.

Some other officials said they had favored a half-point hike last month because hiring, consumer spending, and inflation data still pointed to a hot economy. But given the uncertainty resulting from the banking troubles, they “judged it prudent” to implement a smaller quarter-point increase.

Also Wednesday, the government’s latest inflation data showed that price increases are slowing but remain far above the Fed’s 2% inflation target, making another quarter-point rise in its benchmark rate highly likely at its meeting next month.

Consumer prices were up 5% in March compared with year ago, much less than the 6% year-over-year increase in February. But excluding volatile food and energy costs, core inflation ticked higher — from 5.5% to 5.6%. Economists consider core prices a better read on underlying inflation.

Fed officials who have spoken this week have suggested that they will need to raise their key short-term rate for a 10th time in May. Economists outside the Fed increasingly expect the Fed to pause its rate hikes after that.

Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said Wednesday that the March inflation report was “good news” but that price increases are “still elevated.”

“The strength of the economy and the elevated readings on inflation,” Daly said, “suggest that there is more work to do.”

Yet she also suggested that the Fed’s forthcoming rate decisions will hinge, in part, on how severely banks restrain lending.

“How much does that put the brakes on the economy so that we don’t have to tighten more?” Daly asked. “We don’t know the answer, but it’s one of the things we’ll focus on.”

The San Francisco Fed was the principal federal regulator for Santa Clara, California-based Silicon Valley Bank, whose collapse a month ago ignited financial turmoil in the United States and Europe. Daly declined to comment on the issue.

Tom Barkin, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said on CNBC that the March inflation report showed that core inflation was still too high.

“There’s still more to do, I think, to get core inflation back down to where we’d like it to be,” he said.

Austan Goolsbee, who became president of the Chicago Fed early this year, sounded a more cautious note this week. Goolsbee noted that stress in the banking system can weaken the economy and could mean that the Fed might not have to raise rates as much as it otherwise would.

“I think we need to be cautious,” he said. “We should gather further data and be careful about raising rates too aggressively until we see how much work the headwinds are doing for us in getting down inflation.”

Goolsbee did not say explicitly whether he supported another rate increase. Goolsbee, Daly and Barkin are among the Fed’s 18 policymakers, although only Goolsbee currently has a vote on rate decisions. The Fed’s regional presidents vote on a rotating basis.

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A Connecticut man says it was hard to ‘come out’ about his cancer. Here’s why he wants to tell everyone now

• April 12, 2023

Iran Brugueras, the owner of Hip Stop clothing and shoe store in Hartford, Conn., is going on a journey. Actually, Brugueras is on three different journeys.

Right now, Brugueras and his wife, Nora, are on a 40-day vacation, with stops in Australia, Bali, Thailand, Maldives, Egypt and someplace in Europe they haven’t decided on yet. Iran and Nora named their vacation “You Only Live Once.”

They’re on that YOLO trip as a result of a journey Brugueras started in the fall of 2021, when he was diagnosed with stage-four gastric cancer. The diagnosis led Brugueras to retire, to enjoy his life, family and however many years he has left.

Brugueras also is on a mission to help people speak openly about their physical and mental health. He “came out” as a cancer patient to open up to his community and give friends and customers the chance to talk about their own anxieties.

“I want to be transparent talking about cancer. I want to talk about the stigma of it. The stigma is why it took me a year and a half to come out publicly,” he said.

“I don’t want this diagnosis to have been in vain,” he said. “If someone is in a dark place, I want them to be able to talk about it.”

Nora, a longtime counselor for cancer patients, wants to help Iran break through those cultural stigmas.

“In our culture, Latin culture, people don’t want to talk about cancer. They don’t talk about feelings, especially men,” she said. “We want people to say, it’s OK to be scared. Whatever your feelings are, let’s talk about them.”

At first, his outreach was grassroots, talking to whoever came to his shop or ran into on the street, about his diagnosis, treatment and psychological state. Then he “came out” on social media.

“After that, a number of people, especially men, approached him to talk, whether about themselves or a family member struggling with a chronic disease,” Nora said. “It fueled him in a way you wouldn’t believe. It reassured him that this is his path.”

Now, he has created a website, hipstopcancer.com, where he plans to blog with updates on his health and wellness.

Mental health

Iran and Nora are no strangers to mental-health initiatives. In 2020, the couple donated $25,000 to Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to start a fund to make mental-health resources accessible to young people in the inner cities.

The fund is called the S.P.L.A.S.H. Project, which stands for Special People Looking & Aiming for Success & Health.

It was created in honor of Iran’s son and Nora’s stepson, Iran Brugueras Jr. The hip-hop up-and-comer in Waterbury struggled with mental-health issues, which he referred to in his music, before dying in 2016 in a car accident at age 20. SPLASH was Iran Brugueras’ professional name.

Despite the stresses of the pandemic and Iran’s diagnosis, Iran and Nora have given some grants through S.P.L.A.S.H. Project. Recipients include Hartford’s Toivo Center, which offers alternative mental-health therapies, and the NAMIWalks, sponsored by National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Iran Brugueras Jr.’s motto was “no excuses.” It’s become his father’s motto, too. Iran Sr. used that motto, at first, to keep up his daily work grind despite his medical treatment.

“I didn’t change my lifestyle. I still came to work every day, same schedule, same hours. I’m a grinder. I thought to myself, I have no excuses,” Iran said.

Now that motto has motivated him to let go of Hip Stop — he sold it to his Park Street business neighbor, Roberto Luis Martir — and focus on healing and wellness.

Iran Brugueras at his store Hip Stop on Park Ave. in Hartford on March 31, 2023. Iran has been diagnosed with stage 4 gastric cancer and has planned to travel the world tour with his wife Nora calling it “Y.O.L.O. Tour”. You can follow his trip through his website www.hipstopcancer.com (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)

Family stores

Iran’s wellness and happiness used to be tied to Hip Stop. He started it in 1994 by setting up a mix-tape booth outside his mother’s Park Street store, Fiesta Time Florist and Party Shop.

“Ever since he was a little boy he liked to sell stuff. He went to New York and bought cassettes. In two days they were all sold,” said his mother, Maria Sanchez. “He went back and bought more cassettes, and CDs. He sold them all. Then he started to sell clothes.”

Iran worked on that spot for 15 years. “It looked like a hot dog cart, with an umbrella, with speakers playing hip-hop,” he said. He became well-known in the neighborhood, where friends and customers call him Pooch.

“I came to work on rainy days. I was outside at 5 below in the winter, all geared up,” he said. “That inspired me to work indoors.”

In 2010, he took a vacancy next door to Fiesta Time. Years later, both stores moved to their current locations, just a few hundred feet down the street, at 693 and 697 Park St.

Brugueras cut a hole in the wall, to build a door connecting the shops. While Sanchez chatted with customers buying flowers and decor for weddings, birthdays, quinceañeras and other parties, she could see her son through the door, selling his own wares.

In the shop, Iran’s merchandise expanded to what Hip Stop sells today: athletic apparel and shoes, jerseys, sports hats, backpacks, watches, sunglasses, neck chains.

Feeling unwell

Then, in mid-2021, about a year after launching the S.P.L.A.S.H. Project, with his business humming along successfully, Iran started feeling unwell.

“There was discomfort, a lot of acid reflux, bloating. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with a stomachache. From time to time I’d get a spasm in my lower back,” he said. “I went to the hospital a couple of times. They didn’t find anything. Later they thought it was H. pylori.”

He pushed to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy. The tests ended with a diagnosis of gastric cancer. He was 48.

“The symptoms are so common that most people with gastric cancer wait to get checked so they usually get diagnosed at a higher stage,” he said.

At first he was scared to ask about a “timeline,” Nora said.

“The doctor initially said, ‘we can’t cure you, but we will treat you. We’re just going to have to manage and balance your quality of life,’ ” she said.

“Based on the conversation, I did my own research. We thought, five years tops. Then he got up the courage to ask and the doctors confirmed that.”

Iran had 23 sessions of chemotherapy. “I saw the direction my body was heading, how fragile I was becoming. My immune system was weakening. I felt I didn’t have a shot if I continued to go down that road. So I decided to just continue without chemo and with immunotherapy,” he said.

He focused on meditation, yoga, working out every day and changing his diet. “I am pretty much a vegan now. I stay away from sugar and alkaline. No pasta. Nothing that comes in a box. Nothing too acidy,” he said.

He was feeling stronger and still working. Then Iran had an epiphany while mourning the death of his cousin’s husband, who died unexpectedly at age 63.

“On his property I observed his beautiful retirement home and all his beautiful vehicles and his boat. And he couldn’t enjoy it. All that hard work and he’s not able to enjoy it,” he said.

“He postponed retirement to save more money. That’s what hit hard. He was focused on working so he could live a comfortable life but you just never know when your time is up,” he said. “That’s how I was able to completely let go of the attachment I had to my business.”

New era at Hip Stop

Martir owns Hip Stop now, among his other businesses. Martir owns Celebrations At Wolfies, which rents party supplies such as bounce houses and rents out a storefront for events. In March, Iran had his 50th birthday party at Martir’s storefront. More than 100 people came. “Everybody loves Pooch,” Martir said.

Brugueras approached Martir about taking over Hip Stop. At first he hesitated. “He put in his sweat and dedication and built this store from the ground up,” Martir said. Brugueras finally persuaded Martir to buy the business.

Martir is now excited to put his mark on Hip Stop. A native of the North End, Martir shopped his whole life at Salvin Shoes, which opened in 1927 and was in business for 93 years, closing in December 2020.

“The atmosphere here is like Salvin,” he said. He even hired a longtime Salvin employee, Bobby Alves, to be the “face” of the store.

In a few months, Martir will expand Hip Stop when Sanchez, who is 74, retires and closes Fiesta Time. That door in the wall that connects the shops will come in handy.

“We’re going to use her space as a boutique for the more high-end shoes, Jordans, like that,” Martir said.

Time to retire

Sanchez, a native of Puerto Rico, came to Hartford for a two-week vacation to visit family when she was 21 years old.

“It was time for me to leave. They said, ‘please don’t go, stay a few more weeks.’ So I stayed. I stayed for 53 years,” she said.

Her small shop is jam-packed with a variety of decorations and supplies. Sanchez enjoys her place in the community, selling cake toppers, garlands, candles and flowers, making custom party favors with shiny satin ribbons, colored mesh and cute surprises inside. But she wants to retire.

“My son is not leaving me. We are leaving together,” she said.

Sanchez said “I know I will get involved with something else after I retire.” But first — like she did 53 years ago when she decided to stay in Hartford near her relatives — she is dedicating herself to her family. Like Iran, Sanchez’s daughter also has serious health issues.

“She needs me right now,” Sanchez said. “I have to be strong for them, but I know it is in God’s hands.”

Community

When Iran and Nora come back from their YOLO world tour, they will focus on his health, their family, his blog and building up community connections to start conversations.

“It’s become part of my life story, talking about how I deal with cancer,” he said. “I want people to know that cancer doesn’t define you. It’s not the end of you and there is hope. You can heal.”

That can be hard for people to understand, Iran said.

“People hear the word cancer and they immediately tie it to death. People might not know how to act or what to say around me. It might make them feel uncomfortable to talk to me. They might feel sorry for me,” he said.

Iran’s most recent CAT scan was in February. The cancer has not spread. He finds strength in that. Now, with Nora by his side, he wants people to see him continue his health journey.

“Cancer is not a death sentence for sure. You have to do your work. You have to be committed to a healthier lifestyle for sure. You can have hope,” she said. “He has to be able to find that silver lining, regardless of the prognosis he has been given. He is eager to continue to live life to its fullest for as long as he can.”

Susan Dunne can be reached at [email protected].

​ Orange County Register