How Cheryl Strayed’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ became a Kathryn Hahn Hulu series

• April 3, 2023

“Tiny Beautiful Things” is an unusual hybrid. The new Hulu series is adapted from a collection of essays that Cheryl Strayed wrote anonymously for the “Dear Sugar” advice column on The Rumpus website, yet the letters are only part of the narrative thread. 

The main arc focuses on Claire, a 49-year-old woman (played by Kathryn Hahn), who is one step beyond her wit’s end. She is fraying completely — her recent behavior has badly alienated her husband and her daughter and possibly cost Claire her day job even as she begins giving advice as “Dear Sugar.” The series also flashes back to the younger version of Claire, whose life is upended at 22 when her mother suddenly discovers she has terminal cancer. Claire is an extremely autobiographical version of Strayed … except where it’s not. 

The framework of younger Claire’s life – growing up working class and estranged from her father, losing her mother, getting married and divorced young, diving into drugs – is often taken directly from Strayed’s life. But the older Claire veers away wildly, having had none of the success and stability that Strayed has achieved. 

Juggling those elements is tricky. Strayed and husband Brian Lindstrom tried creating a “Tiny Beautiful Things” series for HBO back in 2015 but the show never got off the ground. This time, Strayed and fellow executive producers Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern (both of whom starred in the movie version of Strayed’s smash hit memoir, “Wild”) brought in Liz Tigelaar as the showrunner. 

Tigelaar, who was the showrunner on “Little Fires Everywhere” (which starred Witherspoon), apologized for being frazzled during our recent video interview by saying, “I definitely have a lot of Claire in me,” though she comes across as warmer and more together than Claire. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Were you a fan of Cheryl Strayed before this project?

I read “Tiny Beautiful Things” when it came out. I loved it and read “Wild” and saw the movie and read Cheryl’s first novel, “Torch.” When I was working on “Casual,” Michaela Watkins told me she was listening to the most amazing podcast called “Dear Sugar,” which Cheryl was co-hosting. So I spent years driving to work listening to the whole podcast. I was all-in on all things Cheryl.

I met Reese while we were working on “Little Fires Everywhere” and her producing partner Lauren Neustadter asked me, “Do you know who Cheryl Strayed is?” 

I said, “My kid is named Wilder.”

Q. Really?

Yes. There’s a Mary Oliver quote in the beginning of “Wild” talking about the word “wild,” and so it was my favorite writer quoting my favorite poet. So I named my kid Wilder.

Q. When Lauren and Reese asked you to adapt this book were you nervous about creating something so different from a book you cherished?

Sometimes you just say, “Yes, of course” without even thinking, which I did. It was only after that I started thinking, “How do you make an advice column a show?” 

There’s the TV logline idea: A woman who’s a mess giving advice to others. It can get whittled down to that, but I wanted it to be a deeper exploration of how we are all messes but still capable of helping others, and in helping others we can help ourselves. 

I also wanted to explore how you can be all ages of yourself at the same time – I’m 47, but I can also be 32 or 13 and sometimes I’m 8 and just want to have a temper tantrum. And there’s also the idea that Claire’s volatility at 49 is not just about being a woman getting older – this isn’t about aesthetics or “How does my neck look” – but about heading into a decade that her mother never got to live into. 

Q. Do you write a story and choose a letter or write a story around the letter you’ve chosen?

That was one of the hardest parts of the show. You can’t really decide one thing and retrofit the other; they have to move in tandem. We have to ask: “Where are we emotionally coming into this episode?” and “What do we want to tackle?” and “What letters that we know we want to use?” There were some letters I flagged that just had to be included. It was structurally and narratively ambitious for a half-hour show. That’s probably why I was so scared at the beginning. 

Q. How involved was Cheryl?

In the beginning, I would talk to her and then go off and bring something back for a creative conversation between the two of us. Then she wanted to be in the writers’ room and we thought she’ll probably taper off and do the important Cheryl Strayed things she has to do, but she never left. If she had tried, I wouldn’t have let her. 

Q. The younger Claire sections are explicitly autobiographical, but the present is not. Was it strange charting a life for someone with Strayed’s background but such a different life? 

We knew the story was going to center around this middle-aged character but Cheryl didn’t want it to be her in the present and an examination of her marriage and her children. It really needed to feel like a different person. But that person had the same fundamental shaping things and those were important for Claire.

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What Cheryl says is that there’s this “ghost ship” version of her – who might she have been if she had the same past but never hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and never wrote “Wild.” The one thing they share is this anonymous advice column falling into her lap but it happens much later for Claire. The story is about her evolving as a writer from there.

Q. Is there a “ghost ship” version of you in your life?

There are a million things for so many of us – if you stayed in this or that relationship – but the first thing that popped into my head was when I was working on “Dawson’s Creek” a million years ago and Mike White was leaving to work on “Freaks and Geeks” and I also interviewed with Judd Apatow and I don’t remember the job I was offered but at the time I decided not to leave “Dawson” and I often think, “What would have happened if I’d gone to work for Judd?”

With every decision you make, you have a gain and a loss.

Q. Is that line from one of the letters in the book and on the show?

Oh, definitely. I’m just internalizing Cheryl and thinking, “What a deep quote of mine, someone should write this down” but really I’m just regurgitating her.

​ Orange County Register 

Morning after pill company increases access, supply

• April 3, 2023

By Parija Kavilanz | CNN

One maker said it is responding to high demand for the morning-after pill, after the US Supreme Court last year ended a constitutional right to abortion, by speeding up availability of the emergency contraceptive in retail stores and introducing a new two-count pack.

Julie launched as a one-step tablet of emergency contraceptive containing Levonorgestrel, the key ingredient in the popular Plan B emergency contraceptive that was approved by FDA in late 1990s without a prescription, at 4,500 Walmart stores nationwide last September.

The startup experienced a surge in demand for its $42 tablet at launch amid an overall spike in purchases of emergency contraceptive following the US Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in on June 24, 2022.

The FDA-approved morning-after pill can reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex or failure of another contraceptive method like a condom, and is ideally taken within 72 hours. The pill, which is legal in all 50 US states, works by delaying ovulation or preventing implantation and cannot terminate a pregnancy.

While the plan from the beginning was always to make the product widely accessible as quickly possible, the Supreme Court’s ruling only compelled the startup to accelerate the timetable for Julie’s nationwide rollout.

“The Dobbs decision and overturning Roe v. Wade last year rocked everyone’s world, our customers and our retail partners,” said Amanda E/J Morrison, cofounder of Julie. “It lit a fire under us to provide our product to more women and, more importantly, to educate women about emergency contraceptives.”

In April, just seven months after hitting the market, Julie is now expanding into 5,600 CVS stores and 1,500 Target stores. The brand is also introducing a new 2-count pack of its emergency contraception (which has a three-year expiration period). The two-count pack rolled out at CVS locations over the weekend.

“With the two-pack, we want to make it easier for women to keep extra emergency contraceptive at home, just like they would with other birth control options like condoms,” said Morrison.

The price for two-count pack is $70. Morrison said the pill works most effectively the closer it is taken after unprotected sex, ideally within 72 hours.

Dr. Colleen Denny, a clinical associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said she saw the upside to a two-count pack of emergency contraception, which she hasn’t seen before from other emergency contraception brands.

“It generally makes sense for barriers to emergency contraception, prescription and over the counter, to be as low as possible,” said Denny,

“Emergency contraception is incredibly safe and effective at preventing pregnancy when used in the right time frame,” she said. “Relationships are complicated. There can be situations where there isn’t access to emergency contraception or women might not ask the partner to use it. So being able to have access to one pill and a backup is a great idea.”

Kelly Cleland, executive director of the American Society for Emergency Contraception, said emergency contraception brands, like Julie, still have to work harder at making the product not only more accessible, but also more affordable.

“I am in favor of expanding access, but this is a missed opportunity when a generic brand comes into the market with a high price barrier,” Cleland said about Julie’s $70 price for the two-count pack.

Cleland said a study done last year by the American Society for Emergency Contraception on access to emergency contraception in stores compared price at retail for branded and generic emergency contraception options. The report said some generic options were priced at $6 or less.

Julie said it set the price for its single pill and two-count pack so it can fund its one-for-one donation program (in which the company donates one box for every box purchased) and to cover business costs tied to packaging and marketing.

By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court revoked the notion that the constitutional right to privacy included an abortion. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court expanded states’ authority to regulate or restrict abortion.

A total of 26 US states have since implemented new abortion restrictions or all-out bans.

In the rulings’ immediate aftermath, doctors and prescribers saw a sharp jump in demand for different forms of contraception, including emergency contraception, and longer-lasting forms of birth control. The rush on emergency contraceptives forced some pharmacy chains to impose temporary purchase limits.

“Every time there is a new development on restrictions to reproduction health care, there’s a run on emergency contraceptive. Our retail partners confirmed this,” said Morrison, adding that news events continue to influence buying patterns for emergency contraceptive.

“The current political climate has emboldened Julie,” Morrison said. This, according to the company, includes expanding Julie’s available within communities through unexpected places like bars, restaurants and coffee shops.

​ Orange County Register 

Southern California builders grow share of home sales

• April 3, 2023

New Home Co. opened Monroe neighborhood in South Corona, Calif., in March 2023. (Courtesy: New Home Co./John Leonffu, Warm Focus Photography)

In an iced winter for house hunting, builders may have been Southern California’s bright spot.

Now it’s hard to get giddy when the number of closed purchases for new homes in the six-county region was just 4,944 in the three months ending in February, down 24% in a year, according to CoreLogic. But existing home sales fell 45% in the same period.

That translated to builders accounting for 11.2% of all wintertime local sales vs. 8.4% a year earlier – a gain of 2.8 percentage points. And note that in pre-pandemic 2015-19, builders were just 8.5% of the local sales market.

Homebuilders are having better luck because of two key factors.

First, they have noteworthy inventory of unsold homes to sell. Existing homeowners have been reluctant to sell in a market dominated by high prices and interest rates.

Plus, builders have been willing to offer steep discounts – often in the form of free upgrades, help with closing costs or buying down the buyer’s mortgage rate.

Locally speaking

Look at builder sales in the three months ending in February, by county …

Riverside: 1,743 sales, down 17% in a year. Share of sales 20.7% vs. 14.1% a year ago – a gain of 6.6 points.

San Bernardino: 1,089 sales, down 35% in a year. Share of sales 14.9% vs. 12.4% a year ago – a gain of 2.4 points.

Los Angeles: 878 sales, down 42% in a year. Share of sales 4.8% vs. 4.7% a year ago – a gain of 0.1 points.

Orange: 551 sales, down 3% in a year. Share of sales 11.7% vs. 7.5% a year ago – a gain of 4.2 points.

Spring ahead

Local builders say the spring selling season started relatively briskly, with house hunters willing to sign sales contracts as mortgage rates dipped and the economic outlook seemed less muddy.

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, pending sales were up 11% in February vs. January, according to Zonda. Sales were still 30% below February 2022. In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, pending sales were up 3.4% in February vs. January but down 35% in a year.

What they’re saying …

Richard Douglass, Trumark Homes’ Southern California president: “February was a tremendous month, with 52 homes sold — marking our largest sales volume for the month in the history of our division. We have 11 new home communities actively selling all over Southern California from Irvine and Saddleback to Oceanside and Covina. We are seeing continued increases in traffic and reservations.”

Stephanie Walker, Rancho Mission Viejo’s vice president of marketing: “Sales for our new Village of Rienda have been strong since opening last year, but February 2023 was a particularly strong month with 43 sales across all of our neighborhoods. We continue to see great demand for our homes with more than 50% of homes in the first phase sold or reserved.”

Patrick Higgins, Landsea Homes’ vice president of sales for Southern California: “Sales were incredibly strong in February, especially with the grand opening of Avelina in San Juan Capistrano earlier in the year. This sales pace has continued into March and we are confident it will remain in the coming months given the high demand.”

And new options are hitting the market.

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In South Corona, New Home Co. opened the Ellis and Monroe neighborhoods in the Bedford master-planned community.

Ellis has 78 two-story, detached residences, ranging from 1,730 to 2,013 square feet with up to three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Prices begin in the mid $600,000s. Monroe has 66 two-story detached homes, ranging from 1,826 to 2,175 square feet with up to four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Prices begin in the high $600,000s.

New Home Co. said that 11 homes sold before the projects formally launched.

“Ideal options for buyers looking for attainably priced homes with more space and access to a wealth of lifestyle amenities,” said Michael Battaglia, New Home’s Southern California president.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County baseball Top 25: Huntington Beach rises to No. 1 after winning NHSI, April 3

• April 3, 2023

This week’s Orange County high school boys baseball rankings.

Notable this week: Huntington Beach ascends to No. 1 in this week’s rankings after winning the National High School Invitational for the second time. … The Oilers beat JSerra 8-1 in the championship game.  … JSerra beat last week’s No. 1 Santa Margarita in the NHSI semifinals. … Pacifica rises into The top 10 after a 4-0 win over No. 5 Villa Park in the Loara Tournament final.

BASEBALL TOP 25

(Records through April 2)

1. Huntington Beach 12-6: The Oilers won the National High School Invitational in North Carolina for a second time, beating JSerra 8-1 in the championship game by scoring seven runs in the top of the ninth inning. Sophomore pitcher Tyler Bellerose was tournament MVP. Bradley Navarro and Ralphy Velazquez both drove in six runs in the tournament, and Dean Carpentier was named to the all-tournament team.

Previous ranking: 7

2. JSerra 10-7: The Lions beat Santa Margarita, last week’s No. 1 team, 4-1 in the NHSI semifinals and lost to Huntington Beach in extra innings in the tournament final. JSerra’s Trent Caraway and Matthew Champion were selected to the all-tournament team.

Previous ranking: 5

3. Santa Margarita 14-3: The Eagles went 3-1 in the NHSI. Pitcher Collin Clarke was named to the all-tournament team. They are in first place in the Trinity League with an 8-1 league record.

Previous ranking: 1

4. Mater Dei 12-5-1: The Monarchs, in second place in the Trinity League at 8-2, defeated Charter Oak in their only game last week.

Previous ranking: 3

5. Villa Park 12-3: The Spartans defeated Foothill twice in Crestview League games to complete a sweep of their three-game league series. They also lost to Pacifica in the Loara Tournament championship game and will  play in the National Classic this week.

Previous ranking: 4

6. Orange Lutheran 10-9-1: The Lancers beat Hoover of Alabama and lost to Farragut of Tennessee in nonleague games. They don’t play again until the Boras Classic South tournament begins April 11.

Previous ranking: 2

7. Cypress 12-4: The Centurions, in first place in the Empire League with a 6-0 league record, beat Ayala 10-1. They play in the National Classic this week.

Previous ranking: 6

8. Foothill 8-8: The Knights lost twice to Villa Park last week, 6-1 and 3-0. They are in the National Classic this week.

Previous ranking: 8

9. Servite 9-8: The Friars defeated La Mirada and Lakeridge of Oregon last week. They play in the National Classic this week.

Previous ranking: 10

10. Pacifica 14-2: The Mariners beat Villa Park 4-0 in the Loara Tournament championship game as Chad Gurnea pitched four scoreless innings, and Ryland Chastain and Jayson Juarez drove in two runs apiece.

Previous ranking: 12

11. El Dorado 10-9

Previous ranking: 9

12. El Modena 10-7

Previous ranking: 13

13. Fullerton 10-4

Previous ranking: 14

14. Edison 8-5

Previous ranking: 18

15. Los Alamitos 11-5

Previous ranking: 11

16. San Clemente 9-4

Previous ranking: 15

17. Capistrano Valley 8-6

Previous ranking: 16

18. Tesoro 8-6

Previous ranking: Not ranked

19. Trabuco Hills 8-8

Previous ranking: 19

20. Mission Viejo 11-6

Previous ranking: 21

21. Canyon 7-6

Previous ranking: 17

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22. La Habra 8-2-2

Previous ranking: 24

23. Capistrano Valley Christian 9-7

Previous ranking: Not ranked

24. Corona del Mar 8-8

Previous rankingL 20

25. Woodbridge 13-3

Previous ranking: 23

​ Orange County Register 

7 ways to use your tax refund to fight inflation

• April 3, 2023

More From NerdWallet

​ Orange County Register 

Man in another car fatally shot driver in La Mirada last week, detective says

• April 3, 2023

Detectives believe the driver killed last week on Rosecrans Avenue in La Mirada was shot by a man in another car, a lieutenant said.

The coroner’s office identified the victim as Nestor Tlahuel Mendez, 30.

“It appears to be a random shooting,” sheriff’s Lt. Mike Gomez said.

The victim was driving when another car apparently pulled up near him and the suspect opened fire, Gomez said. A passenger wasn’t hit.

The shooting was reported at 9:16 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29, in the 13900 block of Rosecrans. Mendez was struck int the torso, according to the coroner’s office.

The Sheriff’s Department asked that anyone with information about the shooting to call deputies at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tipsters can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or at lacrimestoppers.org.

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​ Orange County Register 

Pomona’s history-making astronaut Glover will be on NASA moon mission next year

• April 3, 2023

This combination of photos shows, from left, astronauts Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman. On Monday, April 3, 2023, NASA announced the three Americans and one Canadian as the crew who will be the first to fly the Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024. (NASA, CSA via AP)

NASA on Monday, April 3, named the four astronauts who will fly to the moon by the end of next year — one woman and three men, including pioneering astronaut and Pomona native Victor Glover.

The three Americans and one Canadian were introduced during a ceremony in Houston, home to the nation’s astronauts as well as Mission Control.

“This is humanity’s crew,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

pic.twitter.com/eH13BM3oGv

— Victor Glover (@AstroVicGlover) April 3, 2023

The four astronauts will be the first to fly NASA’s Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024. They will not land or even go into lunar orbit, but rather fly around the moon and head straight back to Earth, a prelude to a lunar landing by two others a year later.

The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, will be joined by Glover, an African American naval aviator; Christina Koch, who holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman; and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen. All are space veterans except Hansen.

Glover, who was born in Pomona and graduated from Ontario High School, served as pilot and second-in-command for the Resilience SpaceX Crew-1 Dragon before his return from the International Space Station in May, 2021.

Glover tweeted an image of our NASA space suits — three bearing patches of the U.S. flag and one with a Canadian maple-leaf patch.

“This is a big day. We have a lot to celebrate and it’s so much more than the four names that have been announced,” said Glover.

This is the first moon crew to include a woman and someone not from the U.S. — and the first crew in NASA’s new moon program named Artemis. Late last year, an empty Orion capsule flew to the moon and back in a long-awaited dress rehearsal.

During Apollo, NASA sent 24 astronauts to the moon from 1968 through 1972. Twelve of them landed. All were military-trained test pilots except for Apollo 17′s Harrison Schmitt, a geologist who closed out that moon landing era alongside the late Gene Cernan.

Provided this next 10-day moonshot goes well, NASA aims to land two astronauts on the moon by 2025 or so.

NASA picked from 41 active astronauts for its first Artemis crew. Canada had four candidates.

The Artemis II crew with NASA administrator Bill Nelson, from left, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch.. Photo: Screenshot, NASA TV

Hometown hero Glover, 44,  grew up in Pomona, graduated from Ontario High and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (he’s also got three Masters degrees). Glover is married to Dionna Odom, and they have four children.

Glover, a Navy commander, aviator and test pilot, became the first Black astronaut to serve on the International Space Station last year, arriving on a Crew Dragon capsule built by Hawthorne-based SpaceX on Nov. 16, 2020.

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Glover was first selected an astronaut in 2013 and logged just under 3,000 hours flying 40 different aircraft before landing that role.

MSNBC named him one of the 23 most influential Black Americans alive today, a list that included Vice President Kamala Harris.

During his time on board the space station, Glover kept in touch with the world below through Twitter and through direct contacts with schoolkids and other engagements over livestream broadcasts. He said he was captivated as a kid by rockets and the early Space Shuttle missions, and the same holds true for young people today finding inspiration.

“The shuttle was an amazing thing to watch as a kid. The SpaceX boosters coming back and landing on the ships. Those things captivate people. That grabs their heart and then you have the opportunity to fill their brains,” he told students in 2021 during a livecast from the space station. “Be resilient, be lifelong learners and be good teammates. I think those things are recipes for success no mater what you do… You can look at the news and see that the world needs the best that we can muster. It needs the best that we can offer each and every day.”

Glover is often referred to by his counterparts as Ike, a nod to a call sign a former commanding officer gave him that stands for “I know everything.”

The New York Times and The Associated Press contributed to this report

​ Orange County Register 

Status Update: San Juan’s River Street Marketplace signs 22 food, retail shops

• April 3, 2023

Nearly two dozen tenants have signed leases at River Street Marketplace, a retail and dining center coming this fall to a former nursery in San Juan Capistrano.

Shoppers can expect a farmhouse-style space with gourmet eats and locally-owned boutiques. Renderings offer a sneak peek of the 60,000-square-foot concept with walkways lined with native plants and water features while the buildings carry peaked, flat or arched rooflines.

Property owner Almquist, formerly Frontier Real Estate Investments, is developing the center, which should be completed by October-November.

We asked Dan Almquist, the managing partner/developer, a few questions about the center.

Q: Is this akin to a food and retail hall?

A: River Street Marketplace is going to be a sprawling outdoor retail and dining center with a mini food hall component called Rodeo River Street. There will be several retail storefronts, standalone restaurant pads and a large, barn-like structure that will house Rodeo River Street food hall with 10 fast-casual food tenants.

Q: What was there before the development of River Street started?

A: The site was previously home to Ito Nursery, which closed at the end of 2021.

Q: How many or how much of the property will be ready by fall? Is the structure built yet? How much is expected to open in 2024?

A: We anticipate that 70 percent of the tenants will be ready to open by fall. All the buildings are framed out with sidings. All buildings are technically built, just site work needs to be done now. Projected openings will begin in October this year going into Q1, with all tenants fully open by or before spring 2024. They have about 5 spaces left available to lease that can be either restaurant or retail.

Retail merchants that have signed leases include:

Common Thread, a locally-owned womenswear boutique.

Fermentation Farm, a probiotic concept that sells sauerkraut, pickles, long-fermented sourdough bread, bone broths and kombucha

Free People, a women’s brand that sells apparel, intimate wear and accessories.

Hudson’s Cookies, a local bake shop known for hefty, gooey treats meant to be enjoyed “medium rare.”

Kozan Teahouse & Boba offers a wide variety of specialty beverages.

McConnell’s Ice Cream, a 70-year-old California ice cream brand, is opening its first scoop shop. The company is known for making ice creams with local and organic ingredients sourced from local orchards and ranches.

Seager, an 8-year-old San Clemente clothing brand that sells apparel, outdoor gear and experiences with a style that embraces the Old West.

SALT, an independent eyewear brand.

Toes on the Nose, a family-owned and operated surf apparel company based in Laguna Beach.

Wildfire Mercantile, a boutique offering Western lifestyle clothing and apparel such as cowboy hats and boots along with accessories, home goods and gift items.

Restaurants include Bred’s Hot Chicken, Capistrano Brewing, Finca by David Pratt, La Vaquera, Gueros Cevicheria, The Meat Cellar Market and Steakhouse, Mendocino Farms, Nana’s Fish Chippery, Shootz Hawaiian and Ubuntu Café.

Stay tuned for more details on those eateries from the Register’s food reporter Caitlin Antonios.

Adventure park for kids debuts in Fullerton

An indoor bounce, jump chase and climb for children (and anyone else who loves to scramble) has debuted in Fullerton.

Urban Air Adventure Park opened Saturday, April1 at Fullerton Metrocenter at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Orangethorp Avenue.

Attractions include a warrior course, virtual reality, laser tag, climbing walls, ropes course and Sky Rider.

Owner Parag Laddha described Urban Air as a place where families can “disconnect from a busy outside world and cherish the joy of laughter and giggles through play.”

Address: 1515 S Harbor Blvd. Unit 10, Fullerton, CA, 92832.

The Anaheim Vintage Toy Buying Show this week features Joel Magee, a Disney expert featured on the TV Show “Pawn Stars.” (Courtesy of Anaheim Vintage Toy Buying Show)

Vintage toy show continues this week

The Anaheim Vintage Toy Buying Show started April 2 and continues through Thursday.

Toy collectors are encouraged to bring their classic collections so that Joel Magee, a Disney expert featured on the TV Show “Pawn Stars,” can review and maybe even make on-the-spot cash offers.

The show runs daily this week at two locations from 10-5 p.m.

Monday: Residence Inn, 700 W Kimberly Ave, Placentia

April 4-6: Hilton Garden Inn, 11777 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove

Admission and parking for the show are free.

For toy or doll questions or for more information about the show, check out toyscout.com, or contact Joel Magee at 561-628-1990 and [email protected].

On the move

Julio E. Martinez has joined Gilson Daub, a workers’ compensation defense and subrogation law firm, as managing partner of its headquarters office in San Clemente. He has been managing teams and handling workers’ compensation claims since becoming an attorney in 2007. Most recently, in August 2022, Martinez was appointed to the board of the Hispanic Insurance & Risk Management Association as their director of legal affairs.

On board

Providence Mission Hospital welcomed six new members to its Community Ministry Board. The board is composed of educators, healthcare workers and community services workers. They are James C. Bastian Jr., lawyer; Elizabeth Jensen, chief financial officer for Goodwill of Orange County; Jeremy Laster, president of Rancho Mission Viejo; Raul Marquez, a Providence Mission Hospital doctor; Michael Moodian, Chapman professor; Linda Sieglen, Providence Mission Hospital’s former chief medical officer.

Good works

Beyond Blindness’ raised $252,874 at its sixth annual Vision Beyond Sight Gala at the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin. The nonprofit will use the money to support children with visual impairments and other disabilities. Beyond Blindness also has a new strategic plan for the next five years that will expand early intervention, education and enrichment and family programs. By 2027, the organization plans to serve more than 2,600 children and families.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast raised $42,000 at its sixth annual Women of Greatness Brunch & Bubbly, which celebrated women who made a significant impact in the lives of Orange County youth and their families. BGC of Central OC will use the money to continue providing mentorship to youth and comprehensive services to families.

Status Update is compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin and edited by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items and high-resolution photos to [email protected]. Allow at least one week for publication. Items are edited for length and clarity.

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​ Orange County Register