Dan Albano’s 5 questions that are key to Mater Dei football’s game vs. St. John Bosco

• October 12, 2023

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Dan Albano’s biggest questions for Mater Dei in its showdown against St. John Bosco on Friday:

1. Can Mater Dei’s defense continue to dominate?

Mater Dei has produced some outstanding defenses over the years but this 2023 version is making a case that it’s one of the best.

Here’s one statistic that shows the unit’s dominance: 43 points allowed.

Yes, Mater Dei has technically allowed only 43 points, or 6.1 points per game during its 7-0 start. But remember, Centennial of Corona returned an interception for a touchdown against the Monarchs in the season opener, and Bingham of Utah returned a kickoff for a score the next week. Those touchdowns weren’t against the defense so one could argue that the Monarchs’ defense has allowed only 29 points or 4.1 points.

The defense also hasn’t allowed any points the past nine quarters.

JSerra quarterback Michael Tollefson, left, is sacked by Mater Dei in a Trinity League football game in Santa Ana on Friday, October 6, 2023. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Mater Dei’s unit is built on speed and aggressiveness, the latter of which often surfaces with one-on-one coverage in the secondary and blitzing.

The key for Mater Dei’s defense will be handling St. John Bosco’s running game led by UCLA commit Cameron Jones, an imposing 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior who has averaged 134.5 yards per game rushing in two Trinity League games.

The Braves certainly noticed that Centennial Corona’s Cornell Hatcher rushed for 105 yards against the Monarchs in the season opener.

2. Will Mater Dei’s defense force any turnovers?

OK, it might seem like Mater Dei could be asking a lot from its defense but forcing turnovers has been one of the unit’s trademarks in recent league games against the Braves.

In the 2021 game played in the spring, the Monarchs forced a key fumble and grabbed two interceptions in 34-17 win. And last season, they collected two more interceptions in a 17-7 triumph.

The game between those two — in the fall of 2021 — was largely decided by a five-TD performance by Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown.

RELATED: https://www.youtube.com/embed/z27zIf8z_iA“>Fryer’s preview and prediction for Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco

3. Will Mater Dei’s Elijah Brown raise his game once again vs. the Braves?

Mater Dei senior quarterback Elijah Brown is 3-0 against St. John Bosco in league games with 585 yards, nine touchdown and zero interceptions.

Mater Dei doesn’t need another massive performance from Brown to win but it would certainly take some pressure off the ground attack and defense if his mastery against the Braves in league continues.

Quarterback play, of course, is always pivotal.

In the two games that Mater Dei and St. John Bosco struggled in this season, neither quarterback threw a touchdown.

Brown was blanked in the Monarchs’ 20-7 victory at St. Frances of Baltimore, Md. while Sanchez was shutout in a 30-23 loss at Kahuku of Hawaii.

4. Will two of Mater Dei’s top seniors play?

Last week in a 42-0 victory against JSerra, Texas-committed offensive tackle Brandon Baker and Alabama-committed cornerback Zabien Brown didn’t appear to start for Mater Dei.

One of the Monarchs’ strength is its depth. Sophomore Jeremiah Ponce started at right tackle for Baker while Chuck McDonald started at corner for Brown.

Mater Dei offensive tackle Brandon Baker (73) at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana on Thursday, July 6, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

But Friday is the biggest game of the regular season, so it’s worth monitoring whether Baker or Brown play.

They’ve been first-team All-County players, and Brown intercepted a pass against St. John Bosco last season in league.

5. How will Mater Dei handle the role of favorite while playing its first game in the rivalry under coach Frank McManus?

The weight of Coach Bruce Rollinson’s final game, including an emotional sendoff at Santa Ana Stadium in the semifinals, seemed to catch up with Mater Dei on the Rose Bowl grass last season in the CIF-SS Division 1 final. The Monarchs just couldn’t finish at the end in a 24-22 loss against St. John Bosco.

The Braves’ late defensive stand certainly played a major factor.

Mater Dei is loaded with players driven to make amends for that loss but they need to first navigate Friday on the road as the favorite.

The Monarchs, ranked No. 1 in the nation by multiple polls, need stay focused from the coaching staff to the players.

Mater Dei coach Frank McManus during a nonleague football opener game against Centennial in Corona on Friday, Aug 18, 2023. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)

First-year coach Frank McManus has coached in the rivalry as an assistant but now takes on veteran St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro, who has enjoyed his share of success against Mater Dei.

In the season opener, veteran Centennial Corona coach Matt Logan played his up-tempo style but added a few trick plays, especially on special teams. Mater Dei still won, and should take this one, but how will the night go emotionally for the Orange County juggernaut?

Yes, the Monarchs have been ultra-focused under McManus — especially on defense — but will they look tight or will they embrace the challenge of a big-game atmosphere.

Elijah Brown, for one, can show them how to perform in the spotlight but Rollinson often exceled in these moments. Now, it’s an opportunity for this Mater Dei squad to show it’s mettle without the legendary coach.

RELATED: Trinity League Football Podcast

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​ Orange County Register 

Sprouts unveils state-of-the-art distribution center in Fullerton

• October 12, 2023

Sprouts Farmers Market held a grand opening Thursday, Oct. 12 for a state-of-the-art distribution center in Fullerton that’s designed to shorten product delivery times and enhance the freshness of produce shipped to Sprouts markets.

The 337,000-square-foot facility, at 1829 E. Orangethorpe Ave., began operation in April and currently serves more than 95 Sprouts locations within a 250-mile radius. It’s equipped with temperature-controlled “ripening rooms” that are kept at 34 and 55 degrees to support the ripening process.

“This ensures optimal conditions for produce storage, providing shoppers perfectly ripe avocados and bananas,” Sprouts CEO Jack Sinclair said.

Sprouts said the center, which employs more than 190 workers, will reduce transportation-related emissions by shaving an estimated 725,000 miles from current delivery routes due to its closer proximity to stores.

The Fullerton facility is just 26 miles from Los Angeles, for example, while the company’s next closest distribution center in Union City, Ca. is 368 miles away.

The Phoenix-based grocer operates additional distribution centers in Aurora, Colo. Glendale, Ariz. Orlando, Fla., Wilmer, Texas and East Point, Ga.

A recent survey from Deloitte show that 68% of shoppers are willing to pay top dollar for fresh foods. On average, consumers will pay up to 28% more for fresh food as opposed to frozen, canned or processed alternatives.

But at least 80% of consumers and grocers think food suppliers have raised prices more than necessary to increase their profits.

Price is a top consideration when buying fresh foods, the study said, but consumers also look more to information related to supply chain and sustainability.

The Fullerton facility incorporates Sprouts’ dedication to sustainability with 11 electric vehicle charging stations for employee use and an EV terminal truck to assist with daily yard operations. The grocery chain also plans to incorporate solar panels at the center.

The distribution center will also support and expand Sprouts’ farm partnerships with a variety of local growers, including Eco Farms in Temecula, Cyma Orchids in Oxnard, Valdivia Farms in Carslbad and Windset Farms in Santa Maria, among others.

To celebrate the opening of the Fullerton distribution center, the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation is awarding $65,000 to support new school gardening and nutrition education programs at Maple Elementary School and Commonwealth Elementary School in Fullerton.

The Deloitte report further notes that 91% of consumers believe a wholesome diet includes fresh food, while 64% of grocery retail executives say fresh food is the most important department for their company’s sales growth plan over the next 12-36 months.

In recent years, grocery retailer have faced a host of challenges. On top of rising costs and growing inflation, they have dealt with major supply chain disruptions — from shipping delays to labor shortages.

Sprouts’ most recent second-quarter earnings report shows the company generated $1.7 billion in net sales and opened six new stores. The company’s same store sales were up 3.2% for the quarter.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Sprouts employs about 31,000 workers and operates more than 400 stores throughout the U.A.

​ Orange County Register 

Fryer: Proposal to ensure athletic trainers are certified deserves support

• October 12, 2023

Whenever a high school athlete is injured it’s always a relief to see an athletic trainer hustling to the athlete to render assistance.

It would be better for all, especially the athletes’ parents, to be certain that the trainer has the certified qualifications to render that assistance.

California Assembly Bill 796 is making its way through the portals of state legislature. The bill would require that anyone who works as a high school sports athletic trainer is registered with the state as a trainer after having been certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA).

CIF Southern Section commissioner Mike West started his work in high school sports as an athletic trainer at Ayala High School in 1994 and would become president of the California Athletic Trainers Association. He has plenty of interest and expertise in the field of athletic trainers.

West said the bill would ensure that high school sports athletic trainers are qualified to care for injured athletes, in games and matches and at practices.

“This would enable us to regulate the profession of athletic trainers,” said West, in his first year as CIF-SS commissioner. “The certified athletic trainer who is certified by the NATA would have to register in the state so we know who they are. You couldn’t call yourself an athletic trainer and provide athletic training services.”

Several Orange County school districts require that only certified trainers can work as trainers at their contests. Anaheim Union High School District and the Santa Ana Unified School District are among them.

Dr. Mike Shepard is an orthopaedic surgeon at the Orthopaedic Specialty Institute and serves as the team doctor for Servite. He has also served in that role for UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and the Angels. He is an advocate for getting certified trainers at high school sporting events.

“California is the only state that does not certify athletic trainers,” Shepard said. “The idea of making certified athletic trainers more of a mainstream thing to have on campus is a good thing. With the emphasis on athletics at our schools, safety should be emphasized for school athletics.”

Athletic trainers have saved lives. Making sure that all high school athletic trainers have the qualifications required to take care of athletes is something everyone should support.

NOTES

• St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro publicy is using the “nobody believes we can win” stuff so of course he has been telling that to Braves players all week leading to Friday’s game against Mater Dei at St. John Bosco’s Panish Family Stadium. …

• The game sold out in three minutes after tickets went on sale Monday. Capacity at Panish is 5,000. Bally West SoCal will televise the game live, and the NFHS Network will live stream the game. …

Mater Dei fans cheer as their team takes the field before the start of the Trinity League football game against St. John Bosco in Santa Ana on Friday, October 7, 2022. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

• West said he will attend Friday’s high school football game at SoFi Stadium, where Downey plays against Warren. That stadium, home of the Chargers and Rams, is not a site for any of this year’s CIF-SS football championship games. It might be in future seasons if a rental fee and associated costs are acceptable to the CIF-SS group. …

• The Orange County Cross Country Championships are Friday and Saturday at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado. Dana Hills’ boys team is ranked No. 1 in the country by PrepCalTrack.com. The Dolphins, who have the county’s top runner in junior Evan Noonan, is the favorite to win the boys team championship, but they could get a good challenge from San Clemente and its top runner, senior Brett Ephraim. …

• Noonan finished third last week in the Clovis Invitational that was run at Woodward Park, which is also the site for the CIF State finals on Nov. 23. JSerra’s girls team was the Clovis Invitational team champion, led by Sophie Polay’s 10th-place finish. JSerra’s Kayla Tasser finished 12th. JSerra’s incredibly deep girls team should win the girls team title at the O.C. Championships by a large margin.

• Trabuco Hills junior Holly Barker is the one to beat in the girls competition at the Orange County Championships. Barker likes the progress of her season that includes winning the Central Park Invitational on Sept. 30 and is looking forward to this weekend’s race. “I just want to go out with confidence and carry out the pace that I know I’m capable of,” she said. …

• Senior Vyctorious Miller has returned to the Crean Lutheran boys basketball team. He was All-Orange County first team as a sophomore at Crean Lutheran during the 2021-22 season, when he averaged 20 points a game. Miller, who was at Compass High in Arizona last school year, will be a candidate for county player of the year. …

• Mater Dei’s boys basketball team will play St. John Bosco at Crypto.com Arena, home of the Lakers and Clippers, as part of the six-game Coastal Catholic Classic on Jan. 6. That will add a new entry to the list of Southern California arenas where Mater Dei’s Gary McKnight has coached. The list includes the Forum, Los Angeles Sports Arena, Honda Center, Pauley Pavilion, Anaheim Convention Center and Galen Center. …

• Among the new rules in place for the 2024 baseball season: Electronic communication devices are permissible from the dugout to the catcher while the team is on defense for the purpose of calling pitches.

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​ Orange County Register 

Swanson: UCLA backup QB Chase Griffin is an NIL star with a bright future

• October 12, 2023

LOS ANGELES — I had to ask Chase Griffin if he had any advice.

I’d just chatted with eighth-grade basketball prodigy Sydney Douglas and her family about the evolving frontier of college athletics: “All the stuff we would get in trouble for is now legal,” said Sydney’s mom, Maylana Martin, a UCLA women’s basketball great. “That’s the most pressure, to be honest, because … you make the majority of your money between now and when you graduate from college. And so that puts a lot of pressure on every move that we make right now.”

Who better to ask for directions than Griffin, twice the NIL Male Athlete of the Year recipient at the NIL Summit?

One of the Bruins’ backup quarterbacks, he has become a brand unto himself, an influential online ambassador-type for everything from Degree deodorant to Dunkin’ Donuts, from JPMorgan Chase to Postmates, and so many more companies that I could fill a column with their names if I wanted to.

Instead, I’ll share what Griffin – who, you should know, is so much more than a football-playing pitchman – would tell a kid with the potential to build a lucrative NIL portfolio: “I would say, the same things that got you to the success are going to sustain you.”

“Athletes, by nature, are built to create value,” said Griffin, who is a 23-year-old senior who is working toward his third degree. “We already have, it’s just finally that we’re slowly but surely getting more access to the value we create. And then content is important. Show as much or as little as you want, but understand that content is the most surefire way to work with brands.”

Content, in Griffin’s case, mostly means DIY social posts that he writes, produces, stars in and scores (!), with help from an editor. They’re often shot in his college dorm room, and incorporate elements of his daily life, such as, say, a pair of posts featuring him watching an NFL Sunday on DirecTV – which earned him $2,400, as we saw on a recent Bloomberg video.

His dad, Will Griffin – whose background is in banking, law and tech ethics – lends contractual oversight. But otherwise, this is Chase’s show, his education.

He finds the time, he makes the deals, he delivers the content. He stacks wins.

“I’ve gotten to a point where I consider myself one of the best producers in the branded content space,” Griffin said during a recent interview that he squeezed between practice and a Zoom call 40 minutes later. “And that’s not athlete-branded, just all branding content.”

Are you wondering how a guy who has played in only seven games since arriving in Westwood in 2020 from Round Rock, Texas, has become an NIL darling, with more than 30 deals?

Well, I could trace the route for you, as others have. Start with how he’d already been networking and trying to build his brand before the Supreme Court reversed the NCAA’s decades-long policy that limited what benefits student-athletes could receive in regard to their name, image and likeness.

And then how, when NIL became a real thing, Griffin could boast he had the Pac-12’s highest passer rating (151.1) in his four games as a freshman, and how he’d started to build a “good followship” online. How, most importantly, he had “no blemishes” to his name.

How his first deal, with Degree, led to opportunities with Shell and Champs Sports, and how those partnerships put him on ESPN, which netted him still more opportunities, which led to more coverage, which … you see the pattern.

But I’d rather tell you more about why he’s been so successful in this realm.

“He has first-rate intelligence and a first-class temperament,” Will Griffin said.

His son, born at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, was mathing and reading and starting his ascent toward becoming a chamber orchestra violinist at 3, with help from his mom, Christine, who taught middle school at Harvard-Westlake when Chase was young.

“He knows who he is and he’s not afraid to live his life in the public eye,” Will said. “I think he will wind up going into public service. I think it’ll be electoral politics because, more or less, that’s the path he’s on. I think he’ll see the impact he wants to have in the world and realize you do have to have your hands on the levers to make it happen.

“That’s where the quarterback thing goes back to; it’s more fun to play than to be on the sideline.”

Football has taught Chase that, and much else.

In high school, he was the 5-foot-10 star QB who started for three seasons in a one-high school town, threw for more than 10,000 yards and did countless interviews. He also helped promote a county bond that funded the construction of an on-campus robotics lab and upgrades to the Hutto football stadium – including a “small-college equivalent” press box, said Thomas Jones, a sportswriter who covered Griffin for the Austin American-Statesman.

“Hutto, 20 years ago, was part of a small farming town on the edge of Austin, but now it’s a booming suburb,” Jones said. “And when that bond passed, I think Chase could see Hutto growing. So not only did he put in the effort to help his high school in the moment, but he was thinking five, 10 years down the road.”

At UCLA, Griffin wishes he’d had more opportunities to lead the Bruins to victories, but he’s been winning, anyway. He’s earned an undergraduate degree in public affairs and a master’s degree in education, and he’s now working toward a master’s in legal studies.

A devoted Christian, he has launched the Chase Griffin Foundation, which is donating $11 – his jersey number – for every point the Bruins score throughout the 2023 season to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. So he didn’t play in Saturday’s 25-17 victory over Washington State, but he contributed: $275 to combat food insecurity. Think about that as you’re watching the No. 18 Bruins take on No. 15 Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday.

He’s served as a representative in the Bruin Athletic Council leadership group, as part of the Pac-12’s Student-Athlete Leadership Team that helped the Pac-12 navigate returning to play during COVID, and other such committees, including the one that helped select Martin Jarmond as UCLA’s athletic director. And he was an intern with an economic development think tank for former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti that raised more than $40 million.

Is it any wonder his teammates call him “President Chase”?

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“There’s always those most-likely-to-succeed kids, people will say, ‘He could be president one day,’” Will Griffin said. “I don’t think he ever really loved the thought of actually running for office, but he would be damn good in office.”

No, I didn’t get Chase to announce his candidacy. He didn’t, however, spike the idea of someday trying to stack political wins alongside all of his NIL victories.

“I think eventually,” Chase said. “Whether it be in California, Texas or nationally, I definitely see it in the cards, being able to just affect people in a way where it makes life more peaceful and increases quality of life for them. So whether it’s through politics, on the philanthropic side, or in another way, that’ll be the route that I take.

“And I have no qualms about which one it is – similar to being a quarterback. You go out there, you have an idea of who you’re gonna throw it to before the play. But you’ve got to go through the read. You gotta take what the defense gives you, and if you keep taking what the defense gives you, they’ll give you the game.”

This Summer I will be producing/dropping new Visual NIL Ad Creative. Here is my personal top 10 (in no particular order).

I am grateful to all of the brand partners who have entrusted me as a brand ambassador & creative director – including the ones featured in this thread.

— Chase Griffin (@ChaseQB11) May 31, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

Cause of death deferred for disgraced USC gynecologist as alleged victims seek full autopsy

• October 12, 2023

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Thursday that it performed an examination of George Tyndall, the former USC campus gynecologist who was found dead at his home last week while awaiting trial for alleged sexual misconduct with 16 patients.

“An examination was performed, and the cause of death has been deferred,” a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s Office told City News Service, while adding that “no autopsy was done.”

“An external exam includes looking for any external signs of trauma,” according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. “Based on the examination and the circumstances surrounding the death, an autopsy may be required to determine the cause and manner of death.

“Cases are deferred when the deputy medical examiner is requesting further investigation/studies into the death. Due to the ongoing death investigation, the department cannot disclose what is being conducted, nor a time frame of when the case will be closed,” according to the coroner’s office.

The office issued a statement last week saying it did not plan to perform an autopsy, because “there was a history of natural disease that explains Mr. Tyndall’s sudden death with no suspicious circumstances for foul play, suicide or toxins playing a role in his death.”

The 76-year-old man’s body was subsequently moved to the coroner’s office on Monday.

The decision not to perform a full autopsy angered attorneys for some of Tyndall’s alleged victims, who said they were being denied closure regarding his death after also being denied the chance to see him brought to trial.

Tyndall was found dead Oct. 4 in his Los Angeles condominium by a friend who had been unable to reach him. Tyndall was awaiting trial on sex-related charges involving patients who accused him of inappropriate behavior under the guise of medical exams.

Tyndall and his attorneys have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Tyndall was ordered Aug. 11 to stand trial on 18 felony counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person — charges that allege the women were “unconscious of the nature of the act” and that it served “no professional purpose” — along with nine felony counts of sexual battery by fraud.

The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between 2009 and 2016.

The women had gone to USC’s student health center for annual examinations or other treatment while Tyndall was working there.

Eight charges involving five other women were dismissed earlier because four of them opted not to proceed and one could not be contacted.

Attorney John Manly, who represents a number of alleged Tyndall victims, issued a statement last week blasting the decision not to perform an autopsy, saying authorities “refused to properly investigate his death” by quickly declaring it “natural causes.”

“This refusal to properly investigate Tyndall’s cause of death allows him to get away with his decades of horrific abuse, and leaves hundreds of women without answers,” Manly said.

One of Tyndall’s attorneys, Leonard Levine, told City News Service that his client “desperately wanted to go to trial and that’s where the issues of guilt or innocence should be resolved.” He said his client had planned to testify and “declare his innocence.”

Tyndall’s defense team will seek the dismissal of the case once a copy of his death certificate is available, Levine said.

Tyndall had been set to appear Friday at a hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. The defense had been planning to ask the judge then to lower Tyndall’s $1.3 million bail to $250,000 and to free him from electronic monitoring, given the dismissal of the eight charges involving five other women.

In March 2021, attorneys representing hundreds of women who claim they were sexually abused by Tyndall announced an $852 million settlement of lawsuits against USC, describing the resolution as the largest of its type ever against a university.

In January 2020, a federal judge in Los Angeles granted final approval of a $215 million class-action settlement between USC and some of the women who claim they were sexually abused by Tyndall.

The settlement provides all class members — about 17,000 former patients who received women’s health services from Tyndall — compensation of $2,500 and up. Patients who are willing to provide further details about their experience could be eligible for additional compensation up to $250,000.

Attorneys for some victims have argued that following an internal investigation of complaints against Tyndall in 2016, the university paid Tyndall a substantial financial settlement so he would quietly resign.

USC officials had repeatedly denied allegations of a cover-up relating to Tyndall and have said that in response to the scandal, new protocols were implemented at its student health center to ensure any complaints are investigated and resolved by appropriate university officials and authorities. The university also said it has hired female, board-certified physicians and introduced patient education materials about sensitive examinations.

After the March 2021 settlement, USC President Carol Folt released a statement in which she said, “I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community. We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much-needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall.”

Tyndall surrendered his medical license in September 2019, according to records from the Medical Board of California.

​ Orange County Register 

Ford says it can’t spend any more to secure a UAW contract

• October 12, 2023

A top Ford executive says the company has reached the limit of how much money it will spend to get a contract agreement with the striking United Auto Workers union.

Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the company’s internal combustion engine business, told reporters Thursday that Ford stretched to get to the offer it now has on the table.

His comments are starkly different from those made by UAW President Shawn Fain Wednesday when he announced an escalation of the union’s strike by walking out at Ford’s largest and most profitable factory. The apparently widening labor rift indicates that Ford and the union may be in for a lengthy strike that could cost the company and workers billions of dollars.

Fain said in Wednesday that Ford told UAW bargainers for nearly two weeks that it would make another counteroffer on economic issues. But at a meeting called by the union, the company didn’t increase its previous offer, Fain said. “Ford hasn’t gotten the message” to bargain for a fair contract, Fain said in announcing the walkout by 8,700 workers at the company’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.

“We’ve been very patient working with the company on this,” he said in a video. “They have not met expectations, they’re not even coming to the table on it.”

Galhotra called Ford’s offer “incredibly positive” and said Ford never indicated to the union that it would be increased.

“We have been very clear we are at the limit,” he said on a conference call with reporters. “We risk the ability to invest in the business and profitably grow. And profitable growth is in the best interest of everybody at Ford.”

The company has a set amount of money, but is willing to move dollars around in a way that might fit the union’s needs, he said, adding that he still thinks it’s possible to reach a deal.

The escalation of the strike came nearly four weeks after the union began its walkouts against Ford and Detroit counterparts General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis on Sept. 15, with one assembly plant from each company. The union later added 38 parts warehouses at GM and Stellantis, and then three Ford and Stellantis assembly plants, involving a total of 33,700 workers.

On Thursday, Fain hinted at further action against Stellantis.

“Here’s to hoping talks at Stellantis today are more productive than Ford yesterday,” Fain wrote on X, formerly Twitter, without saying what might happen.

A person with direct knowledge of the talks said the union met with Stellantis Thursday morning and was to return for more talks in the afternoon. The person, who didn’t want to be identified because he is not authorized to discuss negotiations, said talks were active with GM and Stellantis, but he was not aware of any negotiations with Ford.

So far the union has not announced any further job actions, although Fain is set to brief the membership in a video appearance Friday morning.

Ford’s sprawling truck plant in Kentucky makes heavy-duty F-Series pickup trucks and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs, the company’s most lucrative products. The vehicles made at the plant generate $25 billion per year in revenue, more than Southwest Airlines and Marriott, the company said.

Ford said the expanded strike puts 13 other Ford plants that supply or receive parts at risk, as well as 600 parts supply companies that would have to lay off workers. In all, the strike at Kentucky Truck affects 100,000 workers, the company said.

Last week the union said Ford’s general wage offer, for instance, is up to 23% over four years, after starting at 9%. GM and Stellantis were at 20%.

Anthony Spencer, who has worked at the truck plant for eight years, said the surprise walkout would get Ford’s attention.

“We know it’s going to hit them. We lose a lot of millions of dollars every day that we don’t run,” said Spencer, who is the local union’s recording secretary and helped organize the walkout.

​ Orange County Register 

EPA to consider making regional warehouse pollution rule federally enforceable

• October 12, 2023

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Division will consider whether to approve a new air pollution rule, based on a recently OK’d regulatory program targeting warehouse and truck traffic emissions established by the Southland’s air quality watchdog agency — which would essentially make the local rule federally enforceable.

The federal agency announced the possible approval on Thursday, Oct. 12.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, a government agency charged with cleaning and protecting the air within Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, approved two rules requiring large warehouses to offset pollution from the truck traffic they attract in 2021.

The agency’s Rule 2035 established the Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions Program, and Rule 316 established a schedule of administrative fees, charged to the warehouses required to comply with the WAIRE Program, in order to fund its implementation.

The WAIRE Program, according to the AQMD’s website, offers warehouses that are more than 100,000 square feet incentives to offset the various air pollution emissions they produce during the scope of their operations.

“The rule allows warehouses to earn WAIRE points by completing actions such as investing in zero emission and/or near-zero emission technologies,” the EPA said in its announcement, “using solar power, installing onsite ZE charging or fueling infrastructure, or installing filtration systems in qualified buildings such as schools.”

The Los Angeles and Long Beach region has long held the title for the most ozone-polluted region in the nation — a problem worsened by the area’s ground-level traffic, industrial operations and ports.

The transportation sector is a major contributor to ground-level smog, according to the EPA. Near constant vehicle traffic on LA and Long Beach freeways, in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and in the skies all contribute to ozone-layer depletion and smog formation.

But warehouses — the target of the AQMD’s new program — are also significant contributors, largely because of the truck traffic they attract to and from their facilities.

That traffic results in the formation of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter, both of which can have negative impacts on human health.

Residents most likely to live by freeways, refineries and other industrial facilities have historically been people who are in poverty and communities of color.

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Making water conservation a ‘California way of life’: Controversial state rules could cost $13 billion

The same is true in Long Beach, where those who live closest to the port and the 710 Freeway tend to be low-income and people of color — and those residents have worse health outcomes than the city as a whole.

The WAIRE Program is still in the implementation process, according to the AQMD’s inaugural report about the effort; The first report was published in January, and AQMD plans to publish new reports annually.

In WAIRE’s first year, the report said, the AQMD primarily focused on conducting outreach to business owners within the warehousing industry who will be required to comply with the rules — alongside developing an online portal to administer the program.

Qualifying warehouses, the AQMD said, will be required to enroll in the WAIRE Program by Jan. 31, 2025.

The EPA, meanwhile, will consider adopting its own South Coast Rule, based on AQMD’s program, that’s meant to reduce emissions from warehouses and subsequent truck traffic.

“I have travelled to the Inland Empire and throughout the South Coast and seen firsthand how Black and Brown communities are bearing the brunt of goods moving through our country,” EPA Pacific Southwest regional administrator Martha Guzman said.  “This rule is an essential step toward protecting Californians that continue to shoulder a large burden of air pollution for all of us.”

The EPA is currently accepting public comments about the proposal through Nov. 13, according to the Federal Register. If the rule is OK’d, the EPA will be able to regulate emissions from warehouses and trucks as outlined by the AQMD under the federal Clean Air Act.

Folks can submit comments about the rule online at tinyurl.com/EPApubliccomments.

​ Orange County Register 

Governor Newsom celebrates ‘paradigm shifting’ mental health legislation in LA

• October 12, 2023

Governor Gavin Newsom gathered with civic leaders at Los Angeles General Medical Center on Thursday, Oct. 12 to celebrate the signing of two laws intended to transform the state’s approach to the twin crises of homelessness and mental health.

The first law, AB 531, seeks to create 11,150 mental health treatment beds and supportive housing units by placing Proposition 1, a $6.38 billion bond measure, on the March 2024 ballot for voters to decide. About $1 billion of that funding would be reserved for veterans.

The second law, SB 326, aims to modernize the Mental Health Services Act of 2004 by requiring that counties spend 30% of the act’s funding on housing.

The two bills strive to ensure all Californians can access high quality mental health resources, including direly needed residential treatment beds, as well as stable supportive homes in which to recover.

“Today marks a powerful and important milestone that we are moving beyond identifying issues, to a paradigm shift to begin the process of being accountable to solve them,” said Newsom.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has made fighting homelessness her cornerstone issue, praised the new laws for recognizing the interdependent nature of being without a home and suffering from mental illness.

“We all know that we cannot address the unhoused population if we don’t address mental health and substance abuse at the same time,” she said. “I would ask everybody here, how they might deal with their mental health and substance abuse vulnerability if they were living in a tent for a month or a week.”

Not everyone is pleased by the new laws. A coalition of mental health advocates and supporters have declared their opposition to Prop. 1.

The group, Californians Against Proposition 1, fears that diverting Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding to housing will defund existing community mental health services and lead to competition over the remaining money.

“Financial support for a wide array of effective, voluntary, evidence-based, community-based, accessible, service options will be dramatically cut,” the coalition stated. “Also on the chopping block is one of the only funding sources for peer support and culturally responsive mental health services for racial and ethnic minority communities.”

Californians Against Proposition 1 coalition members are also upset by last-minute changes to the bond measure’s language that allow funding to be applied to locked treatment facilities.

“They might have achieved true consensus on this measure if they had not so crassly attacked the funding lifeline that so many programs depend on today or introduced forced treatment into the bill at the last minute,” stated the coalition. “Our community sees, hears and feels this as disrespect, and we fear for our bodily autonomy and freedom.”

Other mental health organizations praised the reforms to the Mental Health Services Act as well as the funding provided by the new legislation.

Jolissa Hebard, a representative for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, spoke of her personal experience with mental illness — having a veteran father with PTSD, a mother with depression, a sister with bipolar disorder and a son who is a suicide attempt survivor.

“The Mental Health Services Act provided so much growth and so much opportunity over the last 20 years,” she said. “Now we get to be part of the change that’s going to allow families, people with mental health conditions, legislators, public officials, to build a better system within California for our loved ones.”

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California state Senator Susan Eggman thanked families with loved ones experiencing mental illness played in developing these two bills.

“You lead the way the decades that you have spent searching for your loved ones in hospitals and emergency rooms on the streets … waiting for that phone call to know thank God they’re in jail or not being assaulted on the streets,” she said. “We all come to this with our own personal stories about the frustrations of knocking our heads against walls trying to get people we love help.”

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis noted how the increased availability of treatment beds and supportive housing will play a key role in enabling the county’s implementation of Gov. Newsom’s CARE Court.

CARE Court seeks to leverage the court system to connect individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar challenges and other psychotic disorders with care instead of living on the streets or landing in jail cells.

“We are less than two months out from launching the Governor’s CARE Court initiative and finally having the tools we need to help people with schizophrenia and psychotic disorders that have been nearly impossible to help in the past,” she said. “The two bills that Governor Newsom will be signing today are essential to our success.

However, similar to Prop 1., some mental health and disability rights advocates have fears about compelled treatment under CARE Court. In particular they worry the court will impinge on people’s civil rights and disproportionately affect people of color, who make up the majority of the state’s unhoused population.

​ Orange County Register