Video: Dan Albano and Steve Fryer predict the winner of Mater Dei-St. John Bosco and Week 8’s other top games

• October 12, 2023

OCVarsity’s Dan Albano and Steve Fryer get together for their weekly Gridiron Show to discuss the top high school football games in Orange County this week.

This is Week 8 of the season, and it’s the annual Trinity League showdown between Mater Dei and St. John Bosco on Friday night at St. John Bosco. The OCVarsity reporters also make predictions for: San Clemente vs. Mission Viejo, Capistrano Valley vs. Tesoro, Santa Margarita vs. JSerra and Dana Hills vs. Laguna Hills.

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​ Orange County Register 

OCSA students turn pumpkins into art pieces for fundraiser

• October 12, 2023

Corpse flower, monster’s eye and candy apples sound like ingredients in a witches’ brew, but instead they are the themes of pumpkin creations by Orange County School of the Arts students for an annual auction.

Students in the school’s visual arts conservatory – open to those in grades 7-12 – designed and constructed pumpkins using a multitude of mediums, drawing their inspiration from everything from popular horror movies to ocean life.

“I started working on my pumpkin at the end of August and have been working on it every day,” said Jenny Wang, an 11th grader who themed her creation around the DC series “The Sandman.”

Johnathan Leanos, an 11th grader, gives a nod to early movie making with his “Bride of Frankenstein” pumpkin.

“The inspiration for my pumpkin was from looking back to old films, especially horror films,” he said. “I think the Frankenstein movie was one of the first movies to inspire other horror films.”

The pumpkin auction raises money for buying art supplies for the conservancy’s students, its director, Paige Oden, said.

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“It’s a time when our students use their own creativity and love of characters and gore to fundraise for their own program,” she said. “All the students did these on their own time.”

The auction opens online at 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, and closes at 9 p.m. Oct. 18. It is open to the public and can be found at  www.ocsarts.net/PumpkinAuction

​ Orange County Register 

Mary Lou Retton’s lack of insurance raises questions as crowdfunding passes $330,000

• October 12, 2023

News broke Tuesday that Olympian champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton is in an ICU unit at a Texas hospital, “fighting for her life” with a rare form of pneumonia, sparking alarm among sports fans all over the United States. But fans were just as dismayed to learn from her daughters that Retton, a highly decorated public figure who supposedly earned millions from endorsement deals over the years, has no health insurance.

Because of this lack of health insurance, the oldest of Retton’s four daughters said the family had to start a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the hospital bill. As of Wednesday night, the Spotfund campaign for Retton, a star gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics, had blown well past its original goal of $50,000, exceeding $330,000 and growing.

“My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life,” Retton’s daughter McKenna Kelley wrote on Spotfund. Kelley also said her mother is not able to breathe on her own and had been in the ICU for more than a week.

“Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details,” Kelley said. “However, I will disclose that she not insured.”

Among people on social media, the idea that Retton’s family needs to ask strangers to pay for what’s expected to be an enormous hospital bill has incited a range of questions and reactions. At the top of the list: Why doesn’t Retton have health insurance? And, what kind of country is the United States if even a legendary sports figure like Retton can’t pay for an emergency hospital stay?

Thus far, Retton’s daughters are not providing many details “out of respect for her and her privacy.” The New York Times reported that Kelley, who was a gymnast at Louisiana State University, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Tuesday. In an update Wednesday, Kelley wrote on Instagram that her mother remains in the intensive care unit, “continues to fight” and is “getting incredible medical care!”

With a dearth of information, the internet has been left to speculate on whether Retton, 55, chose to forego health insurance, or if she somehow lost coverage or wasn’t able to obtain coverage. People online also noted she had recently been living in a Houston mansion, citing a May 2022 report that she was selling her “luxury” 9,000-square-foot Houston home, which boasted six bedrooms, six bathrooms and a swimming pool.

In a thread on X, Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist with a large social media following, agreed that the situation “doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m not sure if she’s still wealthy. Something must have happened. Or else they wouldn’t be crowdfunding for her medical bills,” Feigl-Ding said. He agreed with many others in saying, “It’s sad a former Olympic champion who is famous like this now has to beg and crowdfund for medical care. I’m not sure if she is still a millionaire like some claim — people’s situations can quickly change.”

Since Kelley started the Spotfund campaign, nearly 6,000 people have donated varying amounts of money, from $10 to $50,000. Spotfund allows people to provide text messages along with their donations, and the site shows there has been an outpouring of support for Retton, with words of encouragement from thousands.

Forbes reported that crowdfunding for medical expenses has become a common occurrence in the 2020s, with many people turning to websites like GoFundMe and Spotfund to seek help in covering the costs of medical emergencies or even basic care.

A 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation study shows that roughly 10.2% of Americans under the age of 65 don’t have health insurance. The study said that the number of uninsured in the United States actually decreased by about 1.5 million people from 2019 to 2021, mainly due to policies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policies were designed to help low-income people gain and maintain coverage during the pandemic, and they included enhanced subsidies in the marketplace and the requirement that states maintain continuous enrollment for people on Medicaid, which provides insurance to low-income people.

Most of America’s uninsured are people in low-income families in which at least one family member is working, the study said. Generally, people of color are at higher risk of being uninsured. Some 64 percent of adults surveyed said they don’t get insurance because the cost of coverage is too high, even with policy efforts to make coverage more affordable.

Whatever is going on with Retton’s health insurance, she definitely has many pulling for her. In 1984, she became “America’s newest darling” by winning five medals at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, including a gold that made her the first American to win an Olympic individual all-round event, the Washington Post reported.

Her victories landed her a spot on the Wheaties cereal box and raised the popularity of gymnastics — a sport once dominated by Eastern Europeans — in the United States. She also campaigned for Ronald Reagan’s re-election in 1984, served as an adviser to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness during the George H.W. Bush administration and delivered the Pledge of Allegiance with fellow former gymnast and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kerri Strug on the second night of the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Retton also has appeared on “Dancing With the Stars,” a Dairy Queen commercial and an advertisement for Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, which the company uploaded to YouTube last week, the Washington Post said.

Sasha Farber, her partner on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2018, offered an update on Retton’s condition after Tuesday’s episode, telling Entertainment Tonight: “She’s fighting.” Farber also said he had been able to talk to her. “She kind of wants to give up, but I’m sending her videos of her dancing and I’m telling her, ‘There’s only one Mary Lou Retton. You’ve got this!’”

Just before Retton was eliminated from “Dancing With the Stars,” she revealed that she had split from Shannon Kelley, her husband of 27 years. The retired gymnast said the divorce had occurred months earlier. Kelley is a former football quarterback turned college coach, who last worked as an assistant coach at Houston Christian University.

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“I’m on a really good path, and I’m happy with my life,” Retton told People at the time. “I’m really excited for what this new chapter is going to bring instead of being that scared person that I was a couple of months ago. I really have done a full turnaround.”

But as much as many people have been honoring Retton and fondly remembering her at the 1984 Olympics, her “America’s sweetheart” reputation isn’t universally observed. Some gymnastics fans point out that there’s an asterisk by her victory in the history books, given that the Soviet Union, then the most dominant force in women’s gymnastics, boycotted the Los Angeles games, as the New York Times reported.

More recently, Retton angered many in the women’s gymnastics community when she worked to counter a congressional bill, introduced by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, which was designed to protect young athletes from sexual predators, according to The Medal Count blog, which covers women’s gymnastics.

Feinstein introduced the bill after Larry Nassar, the longtime team doctor for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, was charged in 2016 with sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment. His victims included a number of high-profile female gymnasts.

A year later, Retton joined officials from USA Gymnastics to unsuccessfully lobby Feinstein against passing the bill, also known as the Safe Sport Act, which would make it mandatory for national governing bodies of Olympics sports, such as USA Gymnastics, to report sexual assault to the police, the New York Times reported in 2017. Retton, “the smiling, bubbly sweetheart from the 1984 Games,” was brought along for PR purposes, the New York Times said, to let Feinstein know that the federation’s policies were solid and that gymnastics “was a happy, safe place.” Through bipartisan support, the bill eventually became law, signed by Donald Trump in 2018.

​ Orange County Register 

As desperation in Gaza grows, Israel says it won’t allow aid to flow until Hamas releases hostages

• October 12, 2023

By JOSEPH KRAUSS and WAFAA SHURAFA

JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed American support to Israel on Thursday as its military pulverized the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes and prepared for a possible ground invasion. As Palestinians tried to stock up on bread and groceries amid dwindling supplies, Israel said nothing would be allowed into Gaza until around 150 hostages taken captive by Hamas during a weekend attack are freed.

International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel halted deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. The war has claimed at least 2,700 lives on both sides.

“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver” should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.

As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit international airports in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in the northern city of Aleppo, putting them out of service.

Palestinians fleeing airstrikes in Gaza could be seen running through the streets, carrying their belongings and looking for a safe place. The number of people who fled their homes reached 340,000 people by Wednesday night — roughly 15% of Gaza’s population. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools while others are staying with relatives or even strangers who let them in.

Lines formed outside bakeries and grocery stores during the few hours they dared open, as people tried to stock up before shelves emptied. On Wednesday, Gaza’s only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators.

Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. The cut-off has also caused dire water shortage for over 650,000 people, according to the U.N.

“Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues,” warned Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. When power runs out, it puts “newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays can’t be taken,” he said.

With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said it has not officially closed Rafah but airstrikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hamas after the militants stormed into the country’s south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu alleged Hamas atrocities, including beheading soldiers and raping women. His allegations could not be independently confirmed.

Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza.

Four previous conflicts ended with the group still firmly in control of the territory it has ruled since 2007. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. A new war Cabinet, which includes a longtime opposition politician, is now directing the fight.

Blinken’s visit underscored American backing for Israel’s retaliation.

“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to,” Blinken said after meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. “We will always be there by your side.”

Blinken is to meet Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority is confined to parts of the occupied West Bank, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in a 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state, but there have been no peace talks in over a decade.

In Gaza, the Israeli military said overnight strikes targeted Hamas’ elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters who attacked Israel on Saturday, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative that it said was used to store unspecified weapons. Other airstrikes killed commanders from two smaller militant groups, according to media linked to those organizations.

“Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership,” Hecht, the military spokesman, said of Hamas. “Not only the military leadership, but also the governmental leadership, all the way up to (top Hamas leader Yehia) Sinwar.”

Drone footage filmed by The Associated Press revealed extensive damage at the Shati refugee camp, in the north of Gaza, following overnight airstrikes. Residents picked their way through the rubble as fire and rescue crews looked for survivors.

While Israel has insisted that it is giving notice of its strikes, it is employing a new tactic of leveling whole neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings.

Hecht said targeting decisions were based on intelligence and civilians were warned.

Even with the warnings, Palestinians say some are unable to escape or have nowhere to go, and that entire families have been crushed under rubble. In the Gaza town of Beit Lahia, Israeli planes dropped leaflets telling people to leave after strikes had heavily blasted the area, residents said.

Jaber Weshah, a 73-year-old rights activist, said there was no warning when a strike leveled a multi-story building neighboring his in the Bureij refugee camp early Wednesday. At least 12 people were killed, including a bookseller, his wife and two toddler daughters and six members of another family, residents said.

“It was an inferno,” Weshah said.

At least 1,000 homes have been leveled and 560 rendered uninhabitable by strikes, according to the U.N.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Thursday when Israeli settlers sprayed bullets at a funeral for three people killed in a settler rampage the day before. Footage showed Jewish settlers in their cars swerving into the funeral procession and cutting off the road before stopping and opening fire.

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The Health Ministry says more than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and two in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Saturday, most when police fired on stone-throwing protesters.

The death toll in Gaza rose to more than 1,400 killed, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, have been killed in Israel, a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks.

Thousands have been wounded on both sides.

Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead inside Gaza are Hamas members.

Shurafa reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Amy Teibel and Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem; Sam McNeil in Be’eri, Israel; Jack Jeffrey and Samy Magdy in Cairo; and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

These fast food giants were born in Southern California

• October 12, 2023

Southern California was a hotbed of fast food innovation in the middle of the 20th century.

In-N-Out Burger, which opened in 1948 and will mark its 75th anniversary on Oct. 22, is credited with introducing a speaker system that allowed customers to order in advance of reaching the window.

Several other famous chains were founded about the same time. Founders either knew each other or watched what the others were doing to find out what worked and what didn’t. Sometimes they helped each other out.

This was especially true in San Bernardino, where McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Del Taco all had their roots.

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Here are six of those chains in chronological order.

Carl’s Jr.: Carl Karcher opened a hot dog cart at Florence and Central in Los Angeles in 1941. He opened the first Carl’s Jr. in Anaheim in 1945. The menu has mutated many times and now has burgers and chicken sandwiches, but no hot dogs. Signature burgers include the Famous Star and the Western Bacon Cheeseburger. Parent company CKE Restaurants moved to Tennessee in 2017, but its leaders came back to Orange County to mark its 80th anniversary in 2021. It has more than 3,800 Carl’s Jr. and Hardees restaurants in 44 states and 43 counties, according to its website.

McDonald’s: The McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice, had a drive-in serving barbecue in San Bernardino when they decided to streamline their operation in 1948, shortening the menu to burgers and serving customers from a walk-up window. Entrepreneur Ray Kroc came on board as their franchise agent in 1954, taking the company global. Based in Chicago, it now has more than 38,000 locations worldwide. The brothers’ restaurant no longer exists, but an unofficial museum stands in its place at 1398 N E St., San Bernardino. The oldest operating McDonald’s, complete with Golden Arches, is at 10207 Lakewood Blvd., Downey.

Jack In The Box: Robert O. Peterson opened the first Jack In The Box in San Diego. It was initially known for its intercoms topped by clown heads. The chain sells hundreds of millions of its signature tacos a year, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. It is also known for its Jumbo Jacks and collectible antenna balls. It has more than 2,200 restaurants across 21 states, according to a news release.

Wienerschitzel: John Galardi opened his first hot dog restaurant in 1961 in Wilmington with mentoring by Glen Bell, a San Bernardino native who studied the McDonald brothers with the idea of copying their success with tacos. Bell hadn’t hit the jackpot yet but had owned several Mexican restaurants. Wienerschnitzel is now run by his son and 350 franchised Wienerschnitzel locations in operation throughout 10 states as well as a large fan base for its chili cheese dogs. It is based in Newport Beach.

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Del Taco: Ed Hackbarth opened the first official Del Taco in Yermo in 1961, according to his website. Del Taco’s timeline uses 1964. Hackbarth was tight with Glen Bell and influenced Neal Baker, founder of Baker’s Drive-thru, which has a similar menu with “twin kitchens” serving burgers and Mexican food. Based in Lake Forest, Del Taco has about 600 restaurants in 15 states. It was acquired by Jack In The Box in 2021.

Taco Bell: Glen Bell had his breakthrough when he opened the first Taco Bell, a 400-square-foot walkup stand, in Downey in 1962. The original simple menu of tacos, burritos and beans has exploded into countless variations, including Nacho Fries and a social media fave called Mexican Pizza. Based in Irvine, it has more than 7,200 restaurants serving 40 million customers in the United States and 1,000 more locations in 30 countries, according to parent company Yum! Brands.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County Soccer Club to call Great Park home for another 5 years

• October 12, 2023

Soccer fans will be able to see Orange County Soccer Club games at the Great Park for several more seasons.

On Tuesday, the Great Park Board, which is made up of Irvine councilmembers, approved a five-year extension to an agreement that will allow the club to play at Irvine’s Championship Soccer Stadium until 2028.

The OCSC has had an agreement with the city since 2019, giving it access to the Championship Stadium for about 18 home games in exchange for fees.

New to the agreement are advertising and branding rights given to OCSC and community grant funding paid to the city by OCSC. According to the staff report, the grant will be used to provide residents with scholarship opportunities for various community programs.

“This agreement provides the city with ongoing revenue streams while providing OCSC with the stability they need to call Great Park home for years to come,” said Cory Hilderbrand, an Irvine spokesperson.

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The new pieces to the agreement will allow OCSC to advertise its own brand as well as third-party sponsors within the Great Park Sports Complex and the soccer stadium, including the panels on the scoreboard, during the next five years. That’s something OCSC couldn’t do under previous agreements, which mandated the club take down signage after games, OCSC spokesperson Chad Romiti said.

OCSC, in turn, will provide the city $25,000 annually, beginning on Feb. 15, according to the staff report, for the “intended purpose of adding to the city’s scholarship fund for various programs in community services.”

The new agreement also outlines the option of an additional five-year extension “upon the written, mutual agreement of the parties.” Romiti said he’s positive the team will play at Great Park through the 2033 season, given the “history between the club and the city of Irvine.”

“We’re pretty confident that it will be a 10-year deal,” Romiti said. “Obviously, we have to be good stewards of the facility.”

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City leaders had some reservations regarding stadium naming rights.

OCSC would have the exclusive rights to pursue third-party sponsorship for the naming rights to the stadium, the agreement had said. For any third-party sponsors secured by OCSC, the club would get to keep 80% of the fees while the rest would go to the city.

The board ultimately struck that provision from the agreement, choosing to further discuss it with the soccer club at a separate time.

“We bring a lot of value to the stadium, and in terms of our ability to bring in partners, we bring a lot of additional value to your beautiful facility, which is how this agreement was contemplated,” said Daniel Rutstein, the club’s president of business relations.

The club will be celebrating the new deal at its first-round Western Conference Quarterfinal playoff game on Oct. 21 at the Championship Stadium, Romiti said.

​ Orange County Register 

Let there be shade. New California law paves way for cooler school campuses

• October 12, 2023

On a 120 degree day there’s exactly one thing all students in the San Fernando Valley and other high temperature areas seek: the cool relief of shade. But this hot commodity is in limited supply and for a surprising reason.

Many public school campuses have encountered six-figure cost estimates when seeking to install shade sails, due to California state building requirements. But thanks to a new law the cost of installing sails is expected to plummet and bring the temperature of California school playgrounds down with it.

SB 515, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week, was authored by state Senator Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, whose district takes in a wide swath of the Valley and reaches to Ventura County.

The sun-soaked Lorena elementary school playground in Los Angeles, Wednesday, September 7, 2022. Concerned parents, teachers and others held a press conference at the school to call out the LAUSD for rejecting warnings about heatwaves and failing to provide cool areas for students. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The bill limits the cost of accessibility requirements on shade projects to 20% of the cost of the project, making it possible for schools to install shade sails with no unexpected costs. Previously, affixing a shade sail to the side of a school building would have triggered a requirement to bring the entire building in line with the latest rules for creating pathways of travel for people with disabilities, which typically come with a big price tag.

On hot days, asphalt surfaces can reach temperature of up to 145 degrees, while the presence of shade structures can lower ambient air temperature by 15 degrees.

“I have two-year-old who has to walk on 140 degree asphalt and, at the time I was writing this bill, my wife was pregnant, and we’re living in Van Nuys,” said Stern. “So this is self-interested in the sense that this is intolerable and a direct health crisis in my own house, and it is a crisis for millions of other people too.”

The issue disproportionately impacts low-income students living in densely populated, urban areas. Its passage was met with celebration by the Los Angeles Unified School District, which sponsored SB 515 and played a key role in getting it to the finish line in Sacramento.

“I am grateful to Governor Newsom for recognizing that extreme heat is a serious and urgent threat to students and for signing this common sense climate solution that cuts red tape to help schools make our campuses greener and more resilient,” said LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

During extreme heat, students lose access to outdoor play spaces or they risk getting heat-related illnesses. In both scenarios, student performance and behavior suffers.

LAUSD school communities have been clamoring for more cooling projects for years and the district has set a goal for all campuses to be 30% green space by 2035.

The state has also heeded these calls and this year CAL FIRE made $120 million available for schools to replace asphalt with green spaces, trees and vegetation to provide protection against extreme heat.

LAUSD Boardmember Nick Melvoin, who represents West Los Angeles and the West San Fernando Valley, sounded the alarm for shade structures specifically about a year ago.

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After seeing schools in the West Valley area of his district facing struggles to install shade sails, Melvoin penned an op-ed pointing out the ways onerous building requirements unintentionally held back shady relief that students needed. That caught the attention of Stern, who with the backing of the district and encouragement from more than 275 letters of support from LAUSD staff and families, convinced his Sacramento colleagues to pass SB 515.

“Our frustration with keeping kids out of the heat led to this new piece of legislation that we think really will enable L.A. Unified, and school districts throughout the state, to (install shade structures) more quickly and more cost effectively, because it cuts some of the red tape and bureaucratic elements that have made this so difficult,” said Melvoin.

“I think this was a great example of how we can work together with our partners in the state legislature to fix the problem and have cooler heads prevail,” he added.

Between the installation of shade structures and the ongoing campus greening efforts, the district hopes to see big benefits for students. Research has shown that access to nature can reduce heart rates, anxiety and decrease student disorderly conduct. In addition, year-round access to outdoor play space improves students’ performance, focus and mood.

LAUSD Board Vice President Scott Schmerelson, who represents the central San Fernando Valley, is eager to see his students benefit from the law, noting that high temperatures on campuses are getting worse.

“California is experiencing extreme heat waves and dangerous environmental conditions due to climate change,” he said. “Shade structures provide a huge relief when students are outside, possibly preventing serious heat related illnesses.”

​ Orange County Register 

Little difference between Democratic Senate candidates Lee, Porter, Schiff

• October 12, 2023

In a little over a year California voters will choose a replacement for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

An Oct. 8 debate revealed some differences among the three candidates involved: Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of Burbank, Katie Porter of Orange County and Barbara Lee of Oakland.

On the hottest issue of the day, the candidates differed on how the United States ought to respond to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

Schiff first was asked if he was out of step with “other progressives,” such as Porter and Lee, with his typically hawkish stance. He touted his support by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and J Street. He said, “The only sentiment I want to express right now, when Israel is going through its own 9/11, is unequivocal support for the security and the right of Israel to defend itself.”

Porter, by contrast, said, “I stand with Israel in this time and I condemn the loss of lives, both of Palestinians and of Israelis who are being victims of this terror.” She backed a two-state solution, giving Palestinians their own country, and she cautioned with respect to Israel’s response to the Hamas terrorist attacks, “There is no exception for human rights.”

Said Lee, who has sponsored legislation putting restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, “I have always stood for Israel.” She added she has condemned terrorist attacks on it. She called for prayers for both sides, and said America “has a responsibility to call for a ceasefire.”

On the domestic front, all three supported a bill by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, to more than double the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $17 by 2028; in California it already will be $16 in 2024.

Schiff thought there ought to be flexibility among states because some are cheaper. But for health care workers, he backed $25 and $20 for everyone else. Lee, who has evidently never once considered getting even vaguely acquainted with economics, backed a $50 minimum wage. Porter complained about corporate profits and backed a $25 minimum wage with a cost-of-living increase.

The candidates held similar views on most other issues, such as opposing the potential shutdown of the government over budget squabbles and backing the PRO Act, which would greatly increase union power.

In other words, the three top Democrats are as economically illiterate as each other, and prefer suffocating top-down federal mandates over allowing markets to work. Their only major distinction is their approach to foreign policy. On the one end, you have Schiff, who voted for the disastrous Iraq war and on the other, you have Lee, who voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In future debates, we hope participants include Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was invited but chose not to participate. She was appointed Oct. 1 by Gov Gavin Newsom to replace Feinstein. But so far Butler hasn’t publicly stated her intentions for seeking election to the office.

And because the March 5 primary is Top Two — not partisan — at least one Republican hopeful should be included in future debates. Former Dodgers star Steve Garvey, who just announced he is running for the Senate seat, is hoping to do better than his former team in this year’s playoffs.

​ Orange County Register