Long Beach State’s LaTanya Sheffield named head coach for Team USA women for Paris Olympics

• February 23, 2024

LONG BEACH — Long Beach State track and field coach LaTanya Sheffield was named head women’s coach for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She will also work with Team USA’s sprinters and hurdlers.

Sheffield previously served as the USA National Team women’s head coach for the 2022 World Championships. She has been selected for two previous Olympics coaching positions, leading the U.S. women’s national team’s sprints, hurdles, and relays at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was also head coach for the women’s track and field program as Team USA won 18 combined medals at the 2019 Pan American Games.

At Long Beach State, her teams have won seven Big West championships in 10 years, with the men claiming five titles and the women claiming two over the last three years.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

White House plans to sanction 500+ targets over Navalny death

• February 23, 2024

By Sam Fossum, Priscilla Alvarez and Kevin Liptak | CNN

The Biden administration will impose a fresh slate of sanctions on more than 500 targets on Friday in response to the death of opposition figure Alexey Navalny and on the eve of Russia’s two-year war in Ukraine, according to a Treasury official.

The sanctions mark the latest move by the administration to levy consequences against Russia amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

Speaking Tuesday, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the new measures would be a “substantial package” that covers a wide range of elements linked to the Russian defense industrial base and sources of revenue for the Russian economy that power the country’s “war machine.”

President Joe Biden teased the sanctions earlier Thursday, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “responsible” for Navalny’s death. The comments came shortly after he met in San Francisco with Navalny’s widow and daughter.

Biden has repeatedly condemned Putin and called him “a crazy SOB” during a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, according to the pool reporters traveling with the US president.

“We have a crazy SOB that guy, Putin, others. And we always have to be worried about a nuclear conflict. But the existential threat to humanity is climate,” Biden told those gathered at the fundraiser. The Kremlin, in response, said Biden’s comments were a “huge disgrace” for the United States.

Sullivan described the package as “another turn of the crank” after withering Western sanctions on Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war. While those sanctions have hampered Russia’s economy, they haven’t deterred Putin from proceeding with the invasion.

The US, along with other Western governments, has levied a series of sanctions against Russia in recent years, but Russia has adapted to them. Putin has taken to gloating about Russia’s resistance to international sanctions, which take time to have an effect.

US officials had been working on a new sanctions package on Russia ahead of Navalny’s death and supplemented them in the wake of the opposition leader’s death, according to a senior US official, adding that US officials coordinated with European partners on the new package.

Reuters first reported the number of targets sanctioned.

This story has been updated with additional details.

​ Orange County Register 

Putin flies on nuclear-capable bomber in message to West

• February 23, 2024

Associated Press

MOSCOW — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday took a co-pilot’s seat in a nuclear-capable strategic bomber on a flight that appeared aimed at bolstering his image ahead of next month’s election he’s all but certain to win.

Putin’s 30-minute flight in a Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber also seemed intended to send a reminder of Russia’s nuclear might amid soaring tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Putin, 71, who is running as an independent candidate, relies on a tight control over Russia’s political system that he has established during 24 years in power. Friday’s death of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny sent a chilling reminder of the Kremlin’s ruthless crackdown on dissent and dealt a heavy blow to the beleaguered Russian opposition.

On Thursday, Putin, clad in a flight suit, boarded the warplane at a snow-covered airfield of an aircraft-making plant in the Volga River city of Kazan that has built the heavy bombers since the Soviet times.

The plant has received state orders to produce a modernized version of the Tu-160 bomber that first flew in the 1980s and was code-named Blackjack by NATO.

The aircraft Putin flew was one of the first such revamped bombers built, equipped with new engines and avionics and designated Tu-160M.

Speaking to reporters after the flight, Putin praised the new aircraft as “excellent,” noting that it has big improvements compared to the initial version.

Thursday’s flight marked at least the third time he got in a cockpit of a warplane. In 2000, he took a co-pilot’s seat in a Su-27 fighter to fly to Chechnya during separatist fighting there and in 2005 he co-piloted a Tu-160 during military drills.

Related Articles

As part of the Kremlin efforts to project an image of an action-loving and physically strong leader, Putin also took a co-pilot’s seat in an amphibious plane, flew a paraglider and drove a racing car and heavy trucks.

He also drove a heavy truck to a meeting in Kazan on Thursday, one of a series of campaign trips ahead of the March 15-17 presidential election.

With prominent critics who could challenge him either jailed or living abroad and most independent media banned, Putin’s reelection is all but assured. He faces a token opposition from three other candidates nominated by Kremlin-friendly parties represented in parliament.

​ Orange County Register 

Former Saddleback Youth pastor now accused of molesting fourth teenage boy

• February 23, 2024

A former Saddleback Church youth pastor who is awaiting retrial for allegedly molesting teenage boys is now accused of abusing a fourth boy he allegedly met through the church.

Ruven Meulenberg, a 39-year-old Lake Forest resident, now faces an additional felony count of lewd acts upon a child 14 or 15 years old who is at least 10 years younger than the defendant, on top of similar charges he already faced in connection with a pair of related criminal cases, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

“Strong mentors are meant to help our children navigate the difficulties of growing up and realize their full potential,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement about the new allegations.. “Instead of providing the spiritual guidance he pretended to provide, this youth pastor seized on the vulnerabilities of these children for his own sick sexual gratification.”

“He has not only forever shaken their belief in anyone in a position of trust and authority; he has irreparably damaged their faith and the faith of countless other parishioners who believed their children were safe with him and youth pastors everywhere,” The DA added.

Meulenberg — who at one time appeared alongside his twin brother on a YouTube channel focused on gaming and music production — was convicted in 2018 of molesting twin brothers he met when they were young teenagers attending his youth ministry at Saddleback Church.

A prosecutor alleged during that trial that Meulenberg kissed one of the boys on the mouth while he was sitting on Meulenberg’s lap in a darkened movie theater. During the trial, Meulenberg’s defense attorney flatly denied the charges, telling jurors that Meulenberg had “mentored countless kids over the years” and has “zero sexual attraction to boys.”

The conviction was overturned due to jury misconduct. One of the jurors — a law office manager — was found to have improperly shared information about the psychiatric testing of subjects in criminal trials.

A retrial related to that criminal case has been delayed repeatedly since 2019. The judges and attorneys assigned to the case have shifted multiple times, and the current attorneys have been busy with multiple other trials over the past several years.

In the meantime, a second criminal case was opened in 2023 when a third boy came forward to allege that Meulenberg touched him inappropriately when he was 14-years-old between June 2017 and June 2018 while driving him home from a church event. The fourth alleged victim has now been added to that second criminal case, according to prosecutors.

It isn’t yet clear whether the cases will be tried separately or at the same time. If convicted of all the charges he currently faces in both cases, Meulenberg faces more than 100 years to life in prison.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County boys golf preview: Tesoro aiming to produce more ‘magic’ this season

• February 23, 2024

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

There’s still potential for another Block party for Tesoro’s boys golf team this spring.

The reigning CIF-SCGA SoCal Regional champion returns four starters to its lineup, including captain Ethan Block. The junior is one of the sons of Michael Block, the head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club who took the golf world by storm last spring by placing 15th at the PGA Championship.

Tesoro produced its own “Block magic” at nearly the same stretch, advancing to the state championship for the first time and placing fifth. Block’s brother, Dylan, a senior last season, contributed to the historic run.

This spring, the Titans also return starters Will Moos and twins Keegan and Landin Gicking. All three are seniors.

Veteran Tesoro coach Van Johnstone is excited about his returning starters along with freshman Maddox Pineda.

“The rallying call will be, ‘Let’s win the South Coast League for the fourth straight year and do some damage at Bear Creek in the CIF divisional championship,’ ” Johnstone said. “(We) expect to battle San Juan Hills for the South Coast League title.”

Tesoro will face an early test Monday at the Servite Invitational at Western Hills Country Club in Chino Hills. The 18-hole competition has attracted other top teams such as Servite, Corona del Mar, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita, Great Oak and Loyola, Friars coach Dane Jako said.

MORE TOP TEAMS TO WATCH

Here’s a list of other Orange County teams that coaches expect to be strong this season: Anaheim Discovery Christian, Crean Lutheran, Cypress, Huntington Beach and Sunny Hills.

Several of the teams return multiple starters.

Fifth-year Santa Margarita coach Jim Tinker believes he has the strongest team of his tenure.

Sunny Hills coach Scott Enrico returns several players and is excited about freshman Felipe Jikal. The Lancers are aiming for their 20th consecutive Freeway League title in the final year of the league.

KEY DATES

The CIF-SS Division 1 team championship is at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta on May 13. …

The CIF-SS individual championship and SCGA qualifying tournament is slated for May 16 at Temecula Creek Golf Club in Temecula. …

The CIF-SCGA SoCal Regional, which serves as the qualifier for the state championship, is May 22 at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino Hills. The state tournament is May 29 at San Gabriel Country Club. …

The Ayala Spring Classic is another top event Monday at Los Serranos.  …

The Southern Nevada Invitational is March 25-26. …

The Champions Invitational is scheduled for April 8-9 at Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort in Palm Springs.

GOLFERS TO WATCH

Ethan Block, Tesoro, Jr.

“Ethan Block is playing incredibly well,” Titans coach Van Johnstone said.

Hanru Guo, Santa Margarita, Sr.

The all-tournament selection from the Southern Nevada Invitational has committed to Cal State East Bay.

Richard Han, Crean Lutheran, Sr.

The Cal signee forms a senior duo with Ted Kim.

Caleb Kim, Sunny Hills, Jr.

The Lancers’ top player recently committed to Long Beach State.

James Leehealey, Corona del Mar, Jr.

A few O.C. coaches expect big things for Leehealey.

Stephen Luo, Anaheim Discovery Christian, Sr.

The All-County selection has committed to UC Riverside.

Cooper Nelson, Orange Lutheran, Sr.

Nelson is an experienced leader of a strong team.

Lance Nguyen, Huntington Beach, Jr.

Nguyen returns as the reigning Surf League champion.

Charlie Olson, Corona del Mar, Sr.

The Surf League contender is committed to Gonzaga.

Ryder Rasmussen, San Juan Hills, So.

The lefty recently tied for third at a Toyota Tour Cup event at Temecula Creek.

Ryan Slevcove, Cypress, Sr.

The reigning Empire League MVP committed to Iona in New York.

Bradley Smolinski, San Juan Hills, Sr.

The Oregon State signee tied for fourth at the PGA West Junior Championships in June.

Hanks Wang, Servite, So.

One of the Friars’ young standouts, Wang broke several of Patrick Cantlay’s freshman scoring records at Servite.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Gondola project from Union Station to Dodger Stadium gets first approval from LA Metro

• February 23, 2024

A proposed 1.2-mile aerial tramway that would transport baseball fans to Dodger Stadium via sky-high gondolas above Chinatown and other neighborhoods in northeast Los Angeles received a major boost on Thursday, Feb. 22.

The controversial project that has attracted considerable opposition, received the green light from the LA Metro board, which approved the project’s Final Environmental Impact Report and determined the project fits within the state’s regional transportation plan. The board voted 11-0-1, with Fourth District Supervisor and Metro board member Janice Hahn abstaining.

Approval of the environmental report is a first step toward making Los Angeles’ first gondola transit project a reality. However, the project also will need approvals from the Los Angeles City Council, Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration. the California Transportation Commission and California State Parks, according to Metro staff.

In addition, the project developer will need to secure property acquisitions, land leases, air rights as well as state and federal sign-offs. If these are obtained, the project will come back to the LA Metro board for construction approval. No timeframe was set for what could be a drawn-out process.

“This doesn’t mean we are greenlighting it,”  said Los Angeles City Council President and Metro board member Paul Krikorian. “The city of L.A. process will be robust. Land use approvals are in the hands of the City of Los Angeles.”

Nonetheless, the Metro vote was historic. It was the first time Metro board voted to approve design and environmental documents for an unsolicited, non-Metro project. As lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, Metro is legally required to oversee the environmental process for all transit-related projects in Los Angeles County moving forward.

The Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LAART) project was submitted to LA Metro by L.A. Dodgers’ former owner Frank McCourt in April 2018 and was not asked for by Metro. McCourt owns 50% of the parking lots at Dodger Stadium which court records show he may use for mixed-use development, including residential and retail uses.

Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies (ARTT), a limited partnership that McCourt formed, was bankrolling the environmental review and preliminary design process. LA Metro will be reimbursed for staff time. Last year, McCourt Global gifted the project to a new entity, Zero Emission Technologies. ZET is the nonprofit owner responsible for building, financing and operating the gondola project.

An artist rendering of what a LA ART gondola would look like en route to Dodger Stadium from Los Angeles Union Station. The project has received pushback from Chinatown residents, city of LA and Homeboy Industries. Yet it received recent support from Coalition For Clean Air. However, LA City Council member Eunisses Hernandez on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2023, has introduced a motion asking for a traffic study before L.A. would take any action on the project. The project is up for a vote on Thursday, Feb. 22 at the LA Metro board.(courtesy of Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit )

The gondolas would take passengers over Chinatown, Solano Canyon, El Pueblo and Chavez Ravine on overhead buckets that accommodate 30-40 passengers. It is estimated to transport 5,000 passengers per hour on a sky-high, Disneyland-esque, 1.2 mile ride that would last seven minutes, according to Metro. The project would include three stations with 13-story towers on Alameda Street across from L.A.’s historic Union Station, at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, and atop Chavez Ravine at Dodger Stadium.

As part of the approval, the Metro board attached a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with a list of conditions that must be satisfied before ZET can begin construction. These include: a plan to expand the existing Dodger Stadium Express which shuttles passengers to the stadium entrance while converting to zero-emission electric buses. A similar condition asks for a study of alternatives to the gondola project that would lessen traffic congestion during the 82 Dodger home games, including a new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Sunset Boulevard.

An unusual condition attached to the project requires setting aside 25% of stadium parking lots considered for development as affordable housing.

First District Supervisor Hilda Solis and Metro board member pushed back against comments by project opponents, who told this news organization that those conditions are nothing more than lip service. “It (CBA) provides guardrails. It enhances transparency and ensures the community their concerns must be addressed,” Solis said.

Metro officials ensured Solis that conditions imposed would have to be met by ZET or Metro would hold back on approval of land use and air space lease agreements, preventing construction and operation of the gondolas.

The Metro board took more than two hours of public comments, which were mixed between supporters and opponents.

Those in favor included: Dodger fans, who wanted an easier way to reach the stadium on game day and members of ZET and its parent nonprofit, Climate Resolve, as well as other residents who said the gondolas will take cars off the roads, reduce air pollution as well as greenhouse gases that cause global climate change.

As the co-organizer of the first CicLAvia that inspires people to ride a bike, Jonathan Parfrey, founder and executive director of Climate Resolve, said the project would remove cars and reduce pollution. But it also will have a warming effect on riding public transit. “I believe the aerial gondola will be similarly inspirational for people to take public transit,” he told the board.

“It will transform the transit experience for Angelenos,” said David Kim, a ZET board member and former California secretary of transportation.

Opponents included residents of Chinatown whose neighborhoods, and in some cases, houses and backyards, would forever be changed by overhead gondolas and towers holding cables powered with humming electric motors; conservation groups that disagree with a station at the Los Angeles State Historic Park and residents who view it as a gift to a billionaire developer and not a solution to traffic, congestion and air pollution.

“This is an overpriced theme park ride that rips into our Chinatown neighborhood, built on the backs of low-income communities,” said Phyllis Ling, organizer of Stop The Gondola, a coalition of hundreds of Chinatown and Solano Canyon residents and 29 member agencies.

Others from the communities directly affected said the project would cause more traffic woes, not less, as people park at stations, add noise pollution and blight from the presence of large towers. Tommy Ling, a Chinatown resident, said the project doesn’t have a funding plan.

The cost has risen from $125 million six years ago to between $385 million and $500 million in January 2024. Ling said the conditions don’t make the project much better.

Members of the business community, including the business group BizFed, supported the project, saying it would bring in more tourist activity to Chinatown and the region.

“We think it will help draw new guests to Olvera Street,” said Dominic Camacho, an owner of Camacho’s Cafe. He said Olvera street and El Pueblo area eateries have suffered lately and would benefit from the ridership.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes the project corridor, asked Metro to turn it down, even with the added conditions.  “A project that needs more than 30 checks and balances to make it palatable, many of which are not enforceable by this body, is a project that can’t stand on its feet,” she said.

Related Articles

Related links

Aerial tramway to Dodger Stadium up for pivotal vote at LA Metro board
L.A. Councilmember Hernandez seeks to halt Dodger Stadium gondola project until traffic study is done
LA Dodgers, Metro propose building aerial trams to take fans directly from Union Station to Dodger Stadium
Opponents of aerial gondola to Dodger Stadium take over meeting in Chinatown
Proposed aerial gondola to Dodger Stadium wins court victory despite opposition

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Thursday, Feb. 22

• February 23, 2024

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Thursday, Feb. 22

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

THURSDAY’S SCORES

SOFTBALL

SOCAL’S FINEST TOURNAMENT

Norco 5, JSerra 3

REDLANDS EAST VALLEY TOURNAMENT

Rosary 3, Redlands East Valley 2

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers pound Padres with two big innings in Cactus League opener

• February 23, 2024

THE GAME: The Dodgers scored eight times in the first inning and went on to beat their Seoul-mates, the San Diego Padres, 14-1, in the Cactus League opener for both teams on Thursday afternoon at Peoria Sports Complex.

PITCHING REPORT: Right-handers Gavin Stone and Ricky Vanasco each pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. … Left-hander Alex Vesia had a rough inning, allowing a solo home run to the first batter he faced (Jake Cronenworth), walking a batter and giving up a single before getting through the inning.

HITTING REPORT: The Dodgers sent 11 batters to the plate against three Padres pitchers in the first inning. Eight of the first nine reached base and scored runs before a second out was recorded. Teoscar Hernandez and Chris Owings each had two-run doubles and Andy Pages drove in two with a single. Pages was playing for the first time since surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder last June. Kevin Padlo had a two-run home run. … The Dodgers scored six more runs in the sixth inning. Jose Ramos and Kody Hoese had two-run doubles.

Related Articles

DEFENSE REPORT: Mookie Betts made his spring debut at second base.

UP NEXT: Padres (RHP Jhony Brito) vs. Dodgers (RHP Landon Knack) at Camelback Ranch, Friday, 12:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register