Orange County boys and girls track and field leaderboard, May 8

• May 9, 2025

The top outdoors times (wind-legal) and marks for Orange County track and field through May 7.

Compiled by Don Chadez/Flash Results West and MileSplit.com

Send corrections to sfryer@scng.com

GIRLS 

(All race distances in meters; + converted to meters)

100: 1. Maliya Collins, Rosary, Fr., 11.93; 2. Justine Wilson, Rosary, Jr., 11.82; 3. Tra’Voa Flournoy, Rosary, Fr., 12.36; 4. Eden Murray, Mater Dei, Jr., 12.08; 5. Saige Acosta, Mater Dei, Sr., 12.15.

200: 1. Justine Wilson, Rosary, Jr., 23.89; 2. Maliyah Collins, Rosary, Jr., 24.15; 3. Tra’Via Flournoy. Rosary, Fr., 24.97; 4. Maya Woolforde, JSerra, Jr., 24.98; 5. Estheleen Charalabidis, Corona del Mar, Jr., 25.02.

400: 1. Justine Wilson, Rosary, Jr., 55.32; 2. 3. Maya Woolforde, JSerra, Jr., 56.84; 4. Anne Packard, JSerra, 57.02; 4. Maliyah Collins, Rosary, Fr., 57.22; 4. Natalie McCarty, Newport Harbor, Jr., 57.33.

800: 1. Anne Packard, JSerra, 2:07.72; 2T. Annie Ivarsson, Dana Hills, 2:10.20; 2T. Isabella Wroblewski, Yorba Linda, So., 2:10.20; 4.Chloe Elbaz, JSerra, Jr., 2:10.40; 5. Reese Holley, JSerra, So., 2:12.32.

1,600: 1. Evangeline Williams, Trabuco Hills, Fr., 4:48.40; 2. Holly Barker, Trabuco Hills, Sr., 4:48.50; 3. Chloe Elbaz, JSerra, Jr., 4:49.70; 4. Reese Holley, JSerra, So., 4:49.99; 5. Annie Ivarsson, Dana Hills, Sr., 4:51.00.

3,200: 1. Holly Barker, Trabuco Hills, Sr., 10:03.95+; 2. Evangeline Williams, Tesoro, Fr., 10:26.58; 3. Amber Dazey, Tesoro, Jr., 10:36.74; 4., Sophie Guilfoile, Aliso Niguel, Sr., 10:42.31; 5. Carol Dye, San Juan Hills, So., 10:42.55.74.

100 hurdles: 1. Jada Faison, Rosary, Jr., 14.81; 2. Kendall Jordan, Mater Dei, Sr., 14.89; 3. Natalie McCarty, Newport Harbor, Jr., 15.04; 4. Skyler Serrano, Beckman, Sr., 15.14; 5. Sydney McGill, Huntington Beach, Jr., 15.41.

300 hurdles: 1. Natalie McCarty, Newport Harbor, Jr., 43.25; 2. Olivia Smyth, Santa Margarita, Jr., 43.60; 3. Abby Patton, Trabuco Hills, Sr., 44.02; 4. Audrey Kays, Mission Viejo, Sr., 44.39; 5. Emma Ortiz, Trabuco Hills, Jr., 45.29.

4×100 relay: 1. Rosary 45.21 (Orange County record); 2. Mater Dei 46.88; 3. Trabuco Hills 47.72; 4. Santa Margarita 48.15; 5. Aliso Niguel 48.19.

4×400 relay: 1. JSerra 3:49.99; 2. Santa Margarita 3:57.94; 3. Orange Lutheran 3:59.86; 4. Mission Viejo 4:00.90; 5. Northwood 4:01.12.

4×800 relay: 1. JSerra 4:53.85; 2. Trabuco Hills 9:16.11; 3. El Toro 9:21.12; 4. Santa Margarita 9:25.91; 5. Tesoro 9:33.55.

High jump: 1. Julia Teven, Brea Olinda, Jr., 5-8; 2. Amber Whipple, El Dorado, Jr., 5-7; 3T. Reese Hogan, Crean Lutheran, Jr., 5-4; 3T. Megan Witte, Mater Dei, Jr., 5-4; 5. Natalie McCarty, Newport Harbor, Jr., 5-3.

Pole vault: Olivia Bettinger, Los Alamitos. Sr., 12-117; 2. Cassidy Nguyen, Los Alamitos, Jr., 12-05; 3. Sydni Harden, Dana Hills, Sr., 12-04; 4. Helena Reuter, J Serra, Jr., 11-09; 5. Sophia Alagha, Beckman,  Jr., 11-06.

Long jump: 1. Garryn Forde, Woodbridge, Jr., 19-02.50; 2. Jada Faison, Rosary, Jr., 18-08.50; 3, Skyler Cazale, Calvary Chapel, Sr., 18-04.50; 4. Jamie Ho, Fountain Valley, Sr., 18-02; 5. Alia Pastarnak, Huntington Beach, Sr., 18-00.50.

Triple jump: 1. 2. Skyler Cazale, Cavalry Chapel, Sr., 37-05.50.; 2. Amelia Gray, Villa Park, Sr., 37-05.50; 3. Stavroula Liarakos, Los Alamitos, Fr., 37-02; 4. 5.Alia Pasternak, Huntington Beach, Sr., 36-07; 5. Haylee Pham, Fountain Valley, Jr., 36-04.00.

Shot put: 1. Jaslene Massey, Aliso Niguel, Jr., 50-07; 2. Madison Gallacher, Canyon, Sr., 37-06.75; 3. Amber Morales, Aliso Niguel, Sr., 37-06; 4. Simone Stears, Troy, Jr., 37-03; 5. Tymane Allen, Cypress, Fr., 37-01.

Discus: 1. Jaslene Massey, Aliso Niguel, Jr., 157-03; 2. Madison Gallacher, Canyon, Sr., 141-04; 3. Chloe Hudson, Villa Park, So., 140-00; 4. Abbey Reichard, Portola, Sr., 135-09; 5. Kai Beary, JSerra, So, 126-03.

BOYS

100: 1. Benjamin Harris, Servite, So., 10.33; 2. Devin Bragg, Los Alamitos, Sr., 10.44; 3T. Jake Pirnazar, Sage Hill, Sr., 10.47; 3T. Jordan Wells, Servite, Fr., 10.47; 5. Leo Francis, Sr., Santa Margarita, 10.52.

200: 1. Leo Francis, Santa Margarita, Sr., 20.99; 2. Devin Bragg, Los Alamitos, Sr., 21.11;  3. Benjamin Harris, Servite, So., 21.17; 4. Jake Pirnazar, Sage Hill, Sr., 21.47; 5. Jay Serrambana, Marina, Jr., 21.61.

400: 1. Jaelen Hunter, Servite, Fr., 46.32; 2. Michael Donvito, Los Alamitos, Sr., 48.90; 3. Jace Wells, Servite, Fr., 49.00; 4. Leo Francis, Santa Margarita, Sr., 49.02; 5. Khalil Watson, Samueli Academy, Sr., 49.06.

800: 1. Alden Morales, JSerra, Jr., 1:50.80; 2. Griffin Kushen, Tesoro, Sr., 1:52.82; 3. Bradley Arrey,  JSerra, Sr., 1:53.33; 4. Max Douglass, Corona del Mar, Sr., 1:53.53; 5. Taye Newman, JSerra, Sr., 1:53.74.

1,600: 1. Evan Noonan, Dana Hills, Sr., 4:04.88; 2. Dylan Jubak, Trabuco Hills, Sr., 4:07.38+; 3. Bradley Arrey, JSerra, Sr., 4:08.99; 4. Griffin Kushen, Tesoro, 4:09.07+; 5. Oliver Hunter, Dana Hills, 4:11.60+.

3,200: 1. Evan Noonan, Dana Hills, 8:55.95; 2. 1. Max Douglass, Corona del Mar, Sr., 8:59.28; 3. Oliver Hunter, Dana Hills, Jr., 9:00.58; 4. Dylan Jubak, Trabuco Hills, Sr., 9:06.09; 5. Taye Newman, JSerra, Sr., 9:09.19.

110 hurdles: 1. Peyton Brown, Tesoro, Jr., 14.56; 2. Baron Giacchetto, Orange Lutheran, So., 14.58; 3. Blaise Burwell, Servite, So., 14.60; 4. Ty Swanson, Santa Margarita, Jr., 15.12; 5. Sammy Peterson, Tesoro, Sr., 15.32.

300 hurdles: 1. Leo Francis, Santa Margarita, Sr., 38.17; 2. Peyton Brown, Tesoro, Jr., 38.36; 3. Blaise Burwell, Servite, So., 38.91; 4. Jett Gary, Beckman, Sr., 39.07; 5. Cole Hidalgo, Northwood, Sr., 39.26.

4×100 relay: 1. Servite 40.00 (Orange County record); 2. Los Alamitos 41.40; 3. Santa Margarita 41.61; 4. Sage Hill 41.67; 5. Mater Dei 41.92.

4×400 relay: 1. Servite 3:12.33 (Orange County record); 2. Northwood 3:18.44; 3. Santa Margarita 3:20.97; 4. JSerra 3:23.60; 5. Trabuco Hills 3:23.84.

4×800 relay: 1. JSerra 7:42.60; 2. Beckman 7:49.50; 3. Tesoro 8:00.29; 4. Aliso Niguel 8:01.61; 5. Brea Olinda 8:01.84.

High jump: 1. Brandon Gorski, Mater Dei, Sr., 6-8; 2. Elijah Masters, Yorba Linda, Sr., 6-6; 3T. Callan Allende, Newport Harbor, Sr., 6-5; 3T. Zion Chambers, Los Alamitos, Jr., 6-5; 5T. Max Forbes, Trabuco Hills, Jr., 6-4; Henri Huntington, San Clemente, Jr., 6-4.

Pole vault: 1. Brady Furr, Santa Margarita, Sr., 16-05; 2. Garrett Higgins, Trabuco Hills, Sr., 15-08.; 3. Viet Le, Fountain Valley, Jr., 15-05; 4T. Nicholas Ling, Mission Viejo, Sr., 14-10; 4T. William Whitesides, Aliso Niguel, Sr., 14-10.

Long jump: 1. Leo Francis, Santa Margarita, Sr., 23-09; 2. Brandon Gorski, Mater Dei, Sr., 23-08; 3. Josh Santos, Northwood, Sr., 11-10.50; 4. Dane Malloy, Aliso Niguel, Jr., 22-06.50; 5. 4. Colton Eggleston, Corona del Mar, Sr., 22-06.

Triple jump: 1. Judah Clark, Servite, Jr., 45-09; 2. Mohamad Ibrahim, Sunny Hills, Sr., 45-03.50; 3. Dane Malloy, Aliso Niguel, Jr., 45-00; 4. Anthony Bui, Trabuco Hills, Jr., 44-03; 5. TJ Barmettler, San Juan Hills, 43-11.50.

Shot put: 1. Marconi Mendoza, Huntington Beach, Sr., 53-05.50, 2. Jayden Legaspi, Canyon, Sr., 54-10.50; 3. Jaden Elliott, Los Alamitos, Sr., 52-09; 4. Tomuhini Topui, Mater Dei, Jr., 52-08; 5. Jack Paavola, Ocean View, Sr., 52-02.

Discus: 1. Tomuhini Topui, Mater Dei, Jr., 166-07; 2. Jack Paavola, Ocean View, Sr., 162-06; 3. Kainoa Clemente, Dana Hills, Sr., 162-02; 4. Marconi Mendoza, Huntington Beach, Sr., 159-00; 5. Jayden Legaspi, Canyon, Sr., 158-11.

​ Orange County Register 

Long Beach’s Los Cerritos Wetlands to get new life with 150-acre restoration project

• May 9, 2025

A large portion of Long Beach’s Los Cerritos Wetlands is finally on its way to restoration, with officials gathering on Thursday, May 8, to celebrate the start of the long-awaited project.

The 154-acre portion of the Los Cerritos Wetlands, a privately owned oil field for the last six decades, is near the city’s border with Orange County and is bounded by Studebaker Road, Pacific Coast Highway, Second Street and Loynes Drive.

The effort to restore the Long Beach wetlands has been ongoing for years — and has faced numerous challenges along the way.

“Everyone agrees on the goal: This should be restored wetlands that should be open to the public,” Community Development Department Director Christopher Koontz said Thursday. “But then figuring out how to get there has been really hard.”

That’s because restoration work costs millions of dollars, Koontz said, which neither the state nor city has the money for.

“Oil companies are not a charity, so you have to figure out a way to make it work for them financially,” Koontz said, “(and) how the city and the state can be involved, and how to bring along the public and environmentalists. We made it work — but it was a lot of work.”

The concept for the project when the city initially began work on it in 2015 was worlds different from what it eventually turned out to be, Koontz said.

Back in 2001, Southern California Edison donated a parcel of land at Second Street and Studebaker Road to the state to settle an environmental lawsuit — which played a key role in making the original version of the project work for all the parties involved.

Under the auspices of the original pitch, Koontz said in a Thursday interview, Synergy Oil &Gas would donate the 154-acre portion of land housing its oil field and, in exchange, would get the state-owned parcel of land.

Synergy would also have to agree to relocate its oil operations to the Pumpkin Patch, a 7-acre area bordering Pacific Coast Highway and the San Gabriel River.

“And in the original version of the project, there was going to be a pipeline running through the city’s parcel, which didn’t end up coming to be,” Kootnz said, “but that was how we first got the project together.”

It took years to get that version of the project approved by all the necessary regulators, including the California Coastal Commission. The city finally got the OK in 2018.

But then, in 2022, the state approved Senate Bill 1137, which banned all new oil drilling within a 2,300-foot distance from schools, business, housing and other highly frequented areas.

The law’s implementation, though, was put on hold shortly after after its opponents gathered more than 600,000 signatures asking the Secretary of State’s office to allow voters to either approve or deny the new regulations.

“SB 1137 conceivably put this whole project out of the running,” Koontz said. “So we had to scramble about, (and figure out) what that actually mean(t) — because this was an approved project prior to that becoming law.”

From there, the city essentially had to start from scratch and rework the project to align with the new legislation, which went into effect in 2024 — after its opponents withdrew a measure on the November ballot.

“The project team kind of reworked the project. They got rid of the pipeline, they got rid of any drilling at Second (Street) and Studebaker (Road),” Koontz said. “And now, instead of up to 100 wells, there’s going to be 20 to 30 underground wells over at the pumpkin patch.”

Last year, the project finally came to fruition after the California Coastal Conservancy approved a deal in which Synergy Oil would hand over the 154 acres of wetlands to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority in exchange for the 5-acre portion of land at Second Street and Studebaker Road.

That approval paved the way to restore the historic tidal connection to a greater portion of the wetlands — and reinvigorate the once-thriving ecosystem there.

Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan, who is the LCWA chair and began work on the project shortly after her election to office two years ago, said getting to this point was a challenge.

“There was not a cohesive group. People were not talking. My job was to sit people down at the table and figure out what the problems were and how we could move it forward,” Duggan said in a Thursday interview. “I didn’t see this as moving forward two years ago, and here we are. It is unbelievable.”

The land swap deal, Duggan said, was the key to getting the project going.

“The land swap was really the crux of it, and I think we were able to figure out what each party involved needed to move it forward,” Duggan said. “To convert 154 acres of privately held coastal land into publicly accessible open space is something that’s rare and remarkable.”

The Los Cerritos Wetlands were once a vast marsh covering about 2,400 acres in what is now Seal Beach and Long Beach.

But now, the wetlands have been reduced to around 776 acres after years of development, oil drilling, agriculture and draining, among other things, disturbed the landscape and cut off the wetland’s traditional tidal connections.

The same is true for the vast majority of California’s historic wetlands, with 90% having disappeared, according to the state’s Water Quality Monitoring Council. And 75% to 85% of Southern California’s historic wetlands have been lost.

In 2006, the LCWA formed as a joint-powers authority — with representatives from Long Beach and Seal Beach, the state Coastal Commission, and the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and Mountains Conservancy — with a mission to protect and restore the Los Cerritos Wetlands.

The LCWA’s focus is a 500-acre conservation area that spans both sides of the San Gabriel River, in Long Beach and Orange County.

The LCWA owns about 170 acres of the Southern wetlands. And in 2023, it received a $31.8 million grant from the California Coastal Conservancy to restore 103 acres of wetlands in Seal Beach.

And soon enough, as part of the land exchange deal, the LCWA will come to own the 154 acres of the Los Cerritos Wetlands.

Though the groundbreaking ceremony for the start of restoration on the wetlands was held Thursday, restoration work has already been ongoing for about a year, according to Synergy Oil CEO John McKeown, who is leading the effort.

There are three main phases to the restoration, McKeown said, the first two of which include decommissioning and abandoning the active oil wells on the property and removing the tanks, power lines, roads and other equipment.

During the final phase, Synergy will break the berms that have been preventing the ocean from re-entering the wetlands — restoring the historic tidal connection that once was — and restoring native habitat and public access to the property.

“I would say that this 156 acres is probably the most important,” McKeown said in a Thursday interview, “because over here is where the actual ocean, the water flooding of the entire 700 acres (of wetlands), comes in.”

The project will also include the construction of walking trails and a nature center focused on environmental education for visitors. The nature center, Koontz said, will have a focus on Native American history on the land.

“The abandonment of the oil field, that’s been going on for over a year — we’re about halfway done,” McKeown said. “We’re on target to be done (with the entire project) completely by the middle of 2027.”

McKeown said that about 75 acres of land, which doesn’t currently house any oil operations, has already been transferred to the LCWA.

Once the project is completely finished, the LCWA will receive full control of the land, and responsibility for its ongoing maintenance and stewardship.

The oil company  will also set up an endowment to help the LCWA maintain and manage the property once the authority takes it over.

Synergy, meanwhile, will develop new oil wells at the pumpkin patch. And, Koontz said, the company will likely turn the Second Street and Studebaker Road parcel into an industrial warehouse or similar use.

The company currently has permits for 17 new oil wells there, McKeown said, though it has room for 30 at the location and officials are working with the state for permission to drill the additional wells.

“All the equipment is at ground level or underground. It’ll just look like like a commercial office building over there, but it will actually be oil drilling,” Kootz said, “and it’ll be the cleanest oil well in the United States, because it’s the most regulated oil well in the United States, because of it being built here in California and in a sensitive location.”

Synergy, McKeown added, will also lose about $7 to $10 million yearly revenue from the shut down of the oil field on the wetlands — and about 30 jobs will be impacted.

“My objective was to try to accomplish restoration, but also keeping jobs for all the people that work at (Synergy) was important to me,” he said. “So we did that; we went out and bought all our own equipment, (and) we’re turning our company into an abandonment company.”

All Synergy employees, he added, will also soon benefit from a profit-sharing program.

And by mid-2027, the Southern California community will have access to the newly restored 154 acres of Los Cerritos Wetlands — the largest expansion of open green space in Long Beach since the construction of El Dorado Park in the 1960s, according to Mayor Rex Richardson.

“It’s not every day that we begin to embark on more than 150 acres of open space available to our community without leveraging public dollars,” Richardson said Thursday. “That is incredible.”

​ Orange County Register 

Is Pope Leo XIV — the Chicago-born new pontiff — a Cubs or White Sox fan?

• May 9, 2025

It didn’t take long for Chicago Cubs fans to welcome the first American pope into their arms, or for White Sox fans to claim him as their own.

When Pope Leo XIV’s election was announced Thursday, ABC News reported Robert Prevost, of Dolton, was a Cubs fan.

The jokes were flying on social media, many of them suggesting Pope Leo XIV was a perfect choice to heal the world’s suffering, thanks to his allegiance to the Cubs.

That begged the question: Would the Cubs ask the new pope to throw a ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field?

A message to the Cubs got a quick response.

“Not only would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Field, he could sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame,’” Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement.

“Or, since three of his predecessors visited Yankee Stadium, including Pope Paul VI, who delivered the 1965 ‘Sermon on the Mound,’ we would invite the Pontiff to do the same at the Friendly Confines.”

The Wrigley Field marquee changed to “Hey, Chicago, He’s a Cubs fan!” after the news Thursday afternoon.

But the Sox might have a better claim. His brother, John Prevost, told the Tribune that the new pope was “always a Sox fan.”

The Sox were of the firm belief that a brother knows what kind of fan his own brother is and made it clear they were claiming the pope as their own.

“Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom follows a little closer to 35th and Shields,” the Sox said in a statement, referring to Rate Field. “Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case we’re glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican. A pinstripe White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at the ballpark.”

Sox fans jumped on the news, posting tweets that the Cubs’ claim was premature. If it’s true he’s a Sox fan, Pope Leo XIV would be the team’s second representative of the Vatican after former Sox pitcher “The Pope” Donn Pall.

Getting the new pope to the ballpark could be a stretch for either the Cubs or the Sox, but if he does come to Chicago, at least he’ll have his choice of baseball activities.

The Cubs have had many celebrities perform the stretch after Harry Caray’s death in 1998 began the tradition of guest singers, from Mike Ditka to Hillary Clinton. But they’ve yet to have a pope in the booth singing and then imploring the Cubs to “get some runs.”

If his North Side fandom is confirmed, Pope Leo XIV would automatically become the world’s most famous Cubs fan, eclipsing Bill Murray for the top spot.

The Cubs have a team chaplain, Rev. Burke Masters, who celebrates mass at the ballpark on Sundays with Wrigley Field employees, including players, team personnel and ushers. During the Cubs’ playoff run in 2016, Rev. Masters was asked if praying was going to help the Cubs win the World Series.

“Ultimately, I don’t think God cares who wins or loses,” Masters said. “But it can’t hurt.”

The Cubs are in first place in the National League Central and now might have a connection with the Big Guy in Pope Leo XIV. If he really is a die-hard Cubs fan, Pope Leo XIV probably can let his followers know with a familiar Latin phrase that every fans knows:

“Eamus Catuli” … “Lets go Cubs.”

The Sox, meanwhile, are in last place in the American League Central with a 10-28 record after Thursday’s 10-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

If Pope Leo XIV is truly a Sox fan, a downtrodden team is counting on him to come through with a miracle or two to salvage the season.

​ Orange County Register 

How Putin uses the USSR’s victory in World War II to rally support for him and the war in Ukraine

• May 8, 2025

By The Associated Press

Hardly any other country marks the end of World War II with the same fanfare and fervor as Russia, for which the victory over Nazi Germany 80 years ago remains a source of immense pride and a defining moment of history.

Victory Day, celebrated on May 9, is Russia’s most important secular holiday, reflecting its wartime sacrifice. But it’s also used by the Kremlin to bolster patriotism and regain the superpower prestige it lost when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 of those 80 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his 3-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

He has also sought to underline the failure of Western efforts to isolate Moscow by inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders to the festivities, which this year have been overshadowed by reports of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports, as well as cellphone internet outages on Wednesday.

A look at why Victory Day is so important for Russia and Putin:

The Soviet sacrifice of World War II

The Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War from 1941-45. That sacrifice left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, and quickly overran the western part of the country. They got as close as 30 kilometers (under 19 miles) from Moscow by October of that year, but the Red Army rebounded and routed the invaders.

Soviet troops dealt crushing defeats to Germany in 1943 in Stalingrad and Kursk. and then drove the Nazi forces back across the western Soviet Union all the way to Berlin.

Putin has noted that every seventh Soviet citizen was killed, while the United Kingdom lost one out of every 127 and the United States one out of 320.

“The Soviet Union and the Red Army, no matter what anyone is trying to prove today, made the main and crucial contribution to the defeat of Nazism,” Putin wrote in 2020.

A Putin family story from World War II

Putin is deeply emotional to the history of World War II, saying “we will always remember the high price the Soviet people paid for the victory.”

He often invokes stories from his parents, Vladimir and Maria, in the war, and the death of his 2-year-old brother, Viktor, known as “Vitya,” during the 2 1/2-year Nazi siege of his home of Leningrad, now called St. Petersburg.

”It was the place where my mother miraculously managed to survive,” Putin wrote. “My father, despite being exempt from active duty, volunteered to defend his hometown.”

He also recalled in a magazine article how his father talked about a scouting mission behind Nazi lines when his comrades were killed and he survived by hiding in a swamp and breathing through a reed while German soldiers walked a few steps away.

Putin’s father was badly wounded. After leaving the hospital, he walked home on crutches to see morgue workers taking his wife’s body away for burial.

“He came up to her and it seemed to him that she was breathing, and he said to the orderlies, ‘She’s still alive!’” Putin’s father recounted to his son.

The morgue workers replied, “She’ll die on the way, she won’t survive.” But Putin said his father pushed them away with crutches and forced them to carry her back to their apartment.

World War II’s role in Kremlin policies

Putin’s emphasis on World War II history reflects not only his desire to showcase Russia’s military might but also his effort to rally the country behind his agenda.

World War II is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

Victory Day parades are a massive show of its armed forces, with thousands of troops and scores of heavy equipment, including mobile launchers carrying nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, rolling across Red Square, and flyovers of dozens of warplanes. Military parades, fireworks and other festivities are held in cities across the country.

Authorities also encourage May 9 demonstrations featuring what is known as the “Immortal Regiment,” in which people carry photos of relatives who fought in World War II. Putin joined those rallies for several years, carrying a picture of his father.

Using World War II to justify the invasion of Ukraine

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin declared it was aimed at the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of its neighbor, falsely alleging that neo-Nazi groups were shaping Ukraine’s politics under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish. The claims were vehemently dismissed by Kyiv and its Western allies.

Putin tried to cast Ukraine’s veneration of some of its nationalist leaders who cooperated with the Nazis in World War II as a sign of Kyiv’s purported Nazi sympathies. He regularly made references to Ukrainian nationalist figures such as Stepan Bandera, who was killed by a Soviet spy in Munich in 1959, as an underlying justification for the Russian military action in Ukraine.

“The Kremlin has mixed those issues and used the victory over Nazi Germany as a foundation for building anti-Ukrainian narratives,” said political analyst Nikolai Petrov. “In Putin’s mind and in the Kremlin’s plans, the victory over Nazis rhymes with the victory over the Ukrainian neo-Nazism as they put it.”

​ Orange County Register 

Here, try this: Mama Hieu’s new Vietnamese hot chicken sandwich

• May 8, 2025

Having carved a niche in Little Saigon over the past year with its lauded chicken wings, Mama Hieu’s, the brainchild of mother-son chefs Jimmy Le and Nho Thi Le, now introduces a new addition to the menu: a hot chicken sandwich infused with a distinctly Vietnamese twist.

According to Jimmy, the new sandwich, which he started serving on May 2, is already a smash. “It’s been crazy since we started serving it,” he shared. “We went through a lot of sandwiches this past week.”

Mama Hieu’s hot chicken sandwich features an ample chicken breast that undergoes a 72-hour marination in a brine of buttermilk, oyster sauce and a secret seasoning blend. After being fried to a crispy, golden hue, the breast is dipped in spicy chili oil and seasoned with a chili blend mix.

“The gỏi is what really sets it apart” from other hot chicken sandwiches, he explained. Mama Hieu’s gỏi, a Vietnamese salad, serves as the sandwich’s characteristic slaw topping, composed of shredded green and red cabbage, carrots, cilantro, pickled red onions, mint and dill, with the latter two herbs providing a cooling, herbaceous contrast. The “slaw” is then tossed with a buttermilk nước chấm dressing, dolloped atop the breast and sandwiched between plush Martin’s potato rolls.

ALSO READ: Here, try this: Shatteringly crisp egg rolls in Westminster

“That’s what makes it a Vietnamese hot chicken sandwich,” added Le.

While hot chicken sandwiches, specifically the Nashville variety, have made cameos on more and more menus in recent years, ranging from mom-and-pop eateries to chains like KFC and Los Angeles-based Angry Chickz, the dish’s roots stretch back to Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville. Legend has it that, sometime in the 1930s, a scorned lover of Hornton Prince, chef-founder of Prince’s Hot Chicken, helped light the fuse that sparked an American culinary phenom.

Still in operation after nearly a century, Prince’s Hot Chicken explains on its website, “While we don’t know if Prince came home one night with a faint hint of perfume or a smudge of lipstick on his collar, we do know that after another one of Prince’s nights out, his scorned lover wanted revenge. And using Prince’s love of fried chicken as bait, she concocted the perfect recipe,” doctoring his Sunday morning chicken “with a wallop of spice.” The revenge dish failed at its mission of vengeance, but succeeded in creating a culinary hit. Price put the hot chicken on his menu, and a legend was born.

From Nashville to Westminster’s Little Saigon, hot chicken sandwiches can be found on many a menu, with eateries like Mama Hieu’s making it their very own. The Vietnamese hot chicken sandwich costs $15 alone; a combo, with either fries or tater tots, runs $18.

Find it: 9090 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, 714-261-6110

​ Orange County Register 

House follows Trump’s lead with a vote to change the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’

• May 8, 2025

By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and direct federal agencies to update their documents and maps to incorporate the new name.

President Donald Trump already signed an executive order during his first day in office to rename the Gulf. House Republicans are looking to show their support, though it is unclear whether he Senate will go along. The bill passed by a vote of 211-206.

The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico. Trump’s order only carries authority within the U.S. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.

Democrats said the vote demonstrated that Republicans are not focusing on the priorities of most Americans. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House’s top Democrat, asked Democrats to vote against this “silly, small-minded and sycophantic piece of legislation.”

“It’s easy to mock this legislation because it’s so inane and embarrassing — and we have,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. “But its very existence and the fact that House Republicans have chosen to waste time and taxpayer dollars to bring it up for a vote, is worth considering.”

Republicans said the nomenclature of the Gulf extended back to a time before the U.S. existed and when Spanish influence over Central American and the Caribbean was at its zenith. But now, it is the U.S. that dominates economic activity in the Gulf.

“In short, this legislation recognizes the strategic influence America has over this geography, not to mention the existing economic, cultural, and commercial might that we passively exert on the Gulf,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump ally and an influential voice in the Republican conference who wore a red “Make American Great Again” hat during last year’s State of the Union address.

“The Gulf of America is one of the most important things we can do this Congress,” Greene said, adding that it promotes pride in the country.

Only one lawmaker broke party ranks on the measure. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., joined with Democrats in voting against the bill.

The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press refers to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. The White House moved in February to block the AP from being among the small group of journalists to cover Trump in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One, with sporadic ability to cover him at events in the East Room.

The AP sued three Trump administration officials over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists.

A federal judge ordered the White House last month to restore The AP’s full access to cover presidential events, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech.

The GOP leadership in the House promoted the legislation during a news conference earlier in the week.

“The American people are footing the bill to protect and secure the Gulf of America. It’s only right that it’s named appropriately,” said House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan.

Several Democrats spoke out against the bill on the House floor.

Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., said that “instead of mind-bending tariffs, giveaways to billionaires, and renaming bodies of water, we should be voting on bills that lower costs for the average family.”

“No one is clamoring for a newly named body of water,” Latimer said. “They want lower grocery bills.”

​ Orange County Register 

Mariachis will serenade mom at some McDonald’s restaurants on Saturday, May 10

• May 8, 2025

McDonald’s restaurants will mark Dia de las Madres on Saturday, May 10 at several locations in Southern California.

These 11 locations in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties will have mariachis and flowers for mom from 9 to 11 a.m., according to the fast food chain.

• 1118 E. Slauson Ave., Los Angeles
• 303 S Gaffey St., San Pedro
• 9107 Van Nuys Blvd., Panorama City
• 18761 Sherman Way, Reseda
• 5545 E Whittier Blvd., East Los Angeles
• 30 Rio Rancho Road, Pomona
• 1341 S. Brookhurst Road, Fullerton
• 1011 E 17th St., Santa Ana
• 137 Canyon Drive, Oceanside
• 2796 Main St., San Diego
• 707 W San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro

Several other locations will have flowers only. They are listed at mcdonaldssocalcelebrates.com

ALSO SEE: 14 free and lovely ways to celebrate Mother’s Day 2025

McDonald’s will also be selling a breakfast bundle for $15 Saturday and Sunday on its app only. It will include a Deluxe Breakfast, three hotcakes, two hash browns, and two Sausage Egg McMuffins.

El Dia de Las Madres takes place in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and other countries a day before Mother’s Day in the United States. Some restaurant chains fold the two holidays together in their Mother’s Day promotions.

​ Orange County Register 

How a Chinese delicacy got caught in the crossfire of Trump’s trade war

• May 8, 2025

By SALLY HO and MANUEL VALDES

SUQUAMISH, Wash. (AP) — For over two decades, Suquamish tribal member Joshua George has dived into the emerald waters of the Salish Sea looking for an unusually phallic clam that’s coveted thousands of miles away.

George is a geoduck diver. Pronounced “gooey-duck,” the world’s largest burrowing clam has been harvested in tidelands by George’s Indigenous ancestors in the Pacific Northwest since before Europeans arrived.

In recent years it has also become a delicacy in China, with Washington state sending 90% of its geoducks there, creating a niche yet lucrative American seafood export.

But the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is now crippling an entire industry that hand-harvests geoducks, leaving Washington state divers without work, Seattle exporters without business and Chinese aficionados with fewer of these prized clams.

“It’s the first time in 24 years where I don’t know when or if we’ll be going back to work or if I have to find another job or what we’re going to do,” George said.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff-driven economic feud with China, which dates back to his first term in office, swiftly resumed in February within weeks of taking back the White House. By April, Trump had placed tariffs of at least 145% on China, which led China to retaliate with tariffs of 125% on the U.S.

Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since the latest tariffs were imposed, but it is unclear where those talks will lead.

Enter the geoduck, weighing about 2 pounds and so entrenched in local culture that it is the mascot for Evergreen State College in Olympia. The meaty mollusk is best described as sweet and briny, and it’s often sliced raw for crisp sashimi out west while China consumers prefer it chewy in stir-fries or hot pot soups. Pre-tariff costs were as high as $100 per pound in restaurants, so it’s a dish generally reserved for special occasions like Chinese New Year, or to celebrate a business gathering.

Unlike other products with long-lasting shelf life and standing inventory, the trade war has had an immediate, direct effect on the delicate geoducks, which are shipped alive the same day of harvest.

“The whole market, everybody just had to stop,” said Jim Boure, general manager of Suquamish Seafoods, an enterprise of the Suquamish Tribe. “We started getting phone calls from buyers saying orders are canceled.”

Fewer geoducks are being harvested

The millions of pounds of geoducks shipped annually to China come from two main sources: wild harvests on tracts of seafloor that are split between the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Puget Sound Treaty Indian Tribes, and tideland farms. The state’s share is auctioned to private exporters that often hire contract divers to harvest them.

As of late April, Washington state divers had only pulled about half of the expected harvest from the state tracts, said Blain Reeves, an aquatic resources division manager for the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Last year, the state and tribes collectively harvested about 3.4 million pounds of wild Washington geoduck for sale. The state generated $22.4 million in revenue for their half of the clams, which went toward paying for aquatic restoration projects locally. The state doesn’t track how much is harvested by private farmers.

“If only half the pounds that were contracted are harvested, then our revenue is halved,” Reeves said.

The Suquamish operation has no orders to harvest for at the moment, but it still must keep up with the maintenance to stay ready for business if and when China comes calling.

On a recent April day, George’s team made a quick trip to collect a handful of the clams for state lab testing.

“When we’re doing the job, and it’s not all this other political stuff behind the scenes and everything else, we love this,” said George, adding that diving, which takes place early in the day so that the geoducks are on an airplane by evening, has allowed him to watch his kids grow up.

Fellow diver Kyle Purser said he cherishes his underwater job, but now fears it’s being taken away.

“When you’re watching your money disappear and you’ve got families to feed and not knowing when you’re going to get your next paycheck, (it’s) very stressful,” he said.

America’s loss is Canada’s gain

The geoduck import market was already facing weaker demand in recent years due to the Chinese economy’s struggle to regain post-pandemic momentum. While the tariffs have only exacerbated troubles for geoduck sellers in Washington, there’s also been an unintended consequence: The American trade war has inadvertently boosted the Canadian geoduck business, which is facing a mere 25% tariff from China in comparison to the 125% for the U.S.

Washington state in the U.S. and Canada’s British Columbia province are the two primary places where the wild geoducks grow naturally for commercial harvest. The two countries did healthy business primarily serving Chinese appetites for decades, in part because quantities are limited. It’s a labor-intensive and heavily-regulated harvest, as divers must go several feet below the surface to dig for them.

“They love the fact that it tastes like the sea,” said James Austin, president of Canada’s Underwater Harvesters Association. “It’s a product that’s really a hit with the Chinese. It’s all about the wild coastline. It’s really prestigious.”

Austin said he expects there will be 2.75 million pounds of Canadian geoducks harvested in 2025, worth approximately $60 million Canadian dollars ($43.4 million USD) in revenue.

While demand has been relatively low but still steady for Canadian’s geoducks, Austin said they’re now the leading exporters for China, which has helped them negotiate higher prices as a result. For example, after Canada got hit with a 25% tariff in March, export sale prices dropped to $12 per pound, and after the U.S. got hit with a 125% tariff in April, Canadian geoducks are now being sold for $17 a pound.

“We have no competitors right now,” Austin said.

Yang Bin at Beihai Huaxiashougang Health Industry Company in Beihai city of Guangxi province in China said their seafood wholesale important business no longer gets geoduck from the U.S.

“We don’t care about U.S. tariffs because we can get geoduck from other countries with stable prices,” Yang said.

Waiting for geoducks

On their first week back to work since the tariff fight brought business to a standstill in Washington state, Derrick McRae and his brother pulled up about 800 pounds of wild geoducks in just one April day.

He donned a full-body diving outfit with an oxygen line tethered to his boat to dive under the cold waters of an inland sea channel west of Seattle. Kneeled on the seafloor, McRae used a water spray gun to move the sand covering the geoducks. In the cloud of sediment, he felt for the neck with his hand, pulling the clam and stuffing it in a net attached to him.

“We’re just kind of waiting on the edge of our seats to see what happens next,” McRae said.

At one of the southernmost inlets, farmer Ian Child said the tariff disruption is not just hurting his bottom line but the entire farming process. He usually places young geoducks in the sand in the summer, but he can’t mix new crops with any existing unharvested clams.

“I think that the demand is still over there for the product,” he said of China. “I think they still want it. It’s just a matter of where the tariffs will land.”

Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed from Beijing.

​ Orange County Register