Last lifts mark end of ‘historic’ snow season, Southern California resorts ready for summer

• May 2, 2023

The snow is melting and it’s time to turn attentions to the summer season at Southern California’s mountain resorts.

Mountain High in Wrightwood on Monday, May 1, marked the last day its lifts were running, and a day earlier, Snow Summit in Big Bear had its final runs open following a historic winter that kept snowboarders and skiers stoked through the season.

With temperatures getting into the upper 70s in recent days, the blanket of white stuff was quickly turning to slush and dirt patches were growing as the winter’s snow disappeared. Many riders ditched their snow gear to cruise down the slopes in tank tops and shorts.

Mountain High’s closing day celebration marked the first time in a decade the resort stayed open until May, with 177 inches of snow falling this season.

About 1,500 snowboarders and skiers showed up for their last runs, with a big group ski to mark the final lap, said John McColly, chief marketing officer for Mountain High.

“It was truly an amazing year, not without its highs and lows,” he said. “But the amount of snow we received and the general vibe around the resort – everyone just had the best time ever. Everyone was here having a good time … it was a great year.”

Traditional summer activities kick off May 12, including the opening of its popular disk golf course. Campsites will open soon and, for the first time, the resort will offer mountain biking. Trails will be built in June and will likely open in August, McColly said.

Snow Summit and Bear Mountain reported an estimated 243 inches of snow this winter, far more than the 69 inches the resort tallied last season.

The figure was the most the resort had in its records dating back two decades, the only season coming close was 2019-20, when 168 inches fell but COVID-19 restrictions kept people off the slopes.

“Both in terms of natural snow and operational days and the longest season we have on record, we’re comfortable saying it’s the most successful and historic year in the past 20 years,” said Justin Kanton, spokesperson for Big Bear Mountain Resort, noting that during a 10-day span in February and March, 100 inches fell.

The resort was able to stay open three weeks longer than expected before shutting down Snow Summit on April 30, with Bear Mountain closing earlier in the month.

Despite the plentiful snowfall this season, it’s melting fast, Kanton said.

“Operationally, it was time to flip that switch and get ready for summer,” he said. “All the way around, it was time to make the call and we were glad we were able to go out on a high note.”

Already, heavy machinery was out on Monday moving around snow to dig out mountain biking and hiking trails, he said. “Now, we’re getting ready for summer. All the snow has to make its way down to the lake and that should make for some great summer conditions.”

Also, with Big Bear Mountain Resort’s purchase of Snow Valley this year, the coming months will be spent getting started on renovations and infrastructure updates at that resort, Kanton said.

If you’re not ready for the winter season to end, Mt. Baldy is closed on weekdays but lift tickets are still being sold for May 5-7. And, Mammoth Mountain, about a six-hour drive from Los Angeles and Orange County, expects to stay open for skiing through July.

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Alexander: Lakers-Warriors should be a classic series

• May 2, 2023

Who could possibly have seen this coming, even as late as a couple of months ago?

The best, most interesting and maybe most competitive series in the second round of the NBA playoffs tips off Tuesday night and it involves the 6 and 7 seeds in the Western Conference – not just any 6 and 7 seeds, of course, but the Lakers and Golden State Warriors, winners of five of the NBA’s last nine championships, including the most recent.

It is absolutely not surprising that ABC wanted Game 3 of this series for its Saturday evening (5:30 PDT) showcase. Say what you want about the other conference semifinal matchups – and Knicks-Heat and Celtics-76ers each have plenty of juice, while Denver-Phoenix features the best regular-season team still standing in the Nuggets and two of the game’s brightest stars in two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Suns’ Kevin Durant.

But this series has Bron and Steph. In a league where superstars move the needle to a degree not seen in any other sport, and often are recognizable on a first-name basis, LeBron James and Steph Curry are quite the starting point.

There are loads of storylines. For example, how will the potential of seven games in 13 days affect clubs that rely on veterans, even with one-hour flights between LAX and SFO?

On another front, can we consider this another chapter of the L.A.-San Francisco civic rivalry? It’s not on par with Dodgers-Giants or Rams-49ers because (a) the Lakers and Warriors haven’t met in the playoffs since the remnants of “Showtime” knocked off Run-TMC in a quick five-game second round in 1991, and (b) the Warriors have been inhabitants of San Francisco and Chase Center only since 2019.

But right now it’s the best we’ve got, and it could turn out to be pretty special.

Fact is, the defending champs’ season hasn’t been that dissimilar from that of the Lakers. They started out 3-7, were under .500 (29-30) as late as Feb. 23 and needed to win five of their last six regular-season games to finish 44-38 and avoid the play-in round. And their road record was an abysmal 11-30, although they won Games 5 and 7 in Sacramento to decide their last series.

Injuries were an issue. Curry missed 26 games, including 11 each with injuries to his shoulder (December to early January) and his leg (early February to early March). Klay Thompson sat out 13 games, some with minor nicks and some for rest purposes. Anthony Wiggins played just 37 games because of foot, shoulder and adductor muscle injuries (and a family matter).

Golden State reacquired Gary Payton II from Portland in a four-team trade at the deadline that sent former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to Detroit, but that deal almost didn’t go through because of Payton’s existing injuries. That lone move wasn’t as dramatic as the Lakers’ major makeover at the deadline, but Payton was valuable off the bench in the Sacramento series.

And the guy who made that deal, Warriors general manager and former UCLA player Bob Myers, is a few weeks away from the executive equivalent of free agency, another juicy storyline.

So, what should we expect?

Curry, with the sweetest jump shot in all of basketball – maybe of all time – will create plenty of defensive headaches; Jarred Vanderbilt, fresh off of a series harassing Memphis’ Ja Morant, now gets to chase the Warriors’ two-time MVP around the court. Meanwhile, Thompson will splash lots of 3-pointers as well and will confound the emotions of his proud dad, Mychal, working on the Lakers’ radio broadcast with John Ireland.

Draymond Green will stir things up, as always. The Lakers, who shrugged off the antics of the Grizzlies in the last round – and particularly the verbiage of Dillon Brooks, the Pocket Draymond – will try to ignore Green, as is generally the wisest course.

Still, one of the prop bets in this series, as offered by SportsBetting.ag, is whether the first image shown in TNT’s Game 1 telecast Tuesday night will be that of Green and James squaring off in Game 4 of the 2016 Finals or LeBron’s chase-down block on Andre Igoudala in Game 7 of that series, en route to Cleveland’s comeback from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. Yes, there’s history here, but it’s more about James than it is about the Lakers.

As was the case against Memphis, much of the Lakers’ success likely hinges on Anthony Davis, who averaged 22.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game against the Warriors in the regular season. Expect a big-time battle between Davis and former UCLA big man Kevon Looney, who averaged 9.3 rebounds for the Warriors in the regular season but 15.1 in the Sacramento series with three 20-rebound games, including 21 in Game 7.

James probably won’t have anyone on the other side calling him old in this series, maybe because the “takes one to know one” comeback applies here. But they know him and he knows them, and there will be no secrets.

For what it’s worth, the Lakers won three of the four regular-season meetings. When they lost by 14 at San Francisco on opening night back in October, the starting lineup was James, Davis, Russell Westbrook, Lonnie Walker IV and Patrick Beverley. In the aftermath, LeBron publicly criticized the makeup of the roster. and clearly Rob Pelinka was paying attention.

The victories over the Warriors all occurred after the trade deadline: A six-point win at Chase Center on Feb. 11 with most of the new guys making their Lakers debuts, a 13-point win on Feb. 23 at home and an eight-point victory in downtown L.A. on March 5 featuring a 39-point afternoon by Davis in Curry’s return to the Warriors’ lineup.

If Davis is the key for the Lakers, the 6-foot-7 Wiggins might be the Warriors’ X-factor. He was inactive for the final 25 regular-season games but played all seven against Sacramento, starting six, and averaged 18.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.

This series between two of the league’s legacy franchises is old school in another way, one peculiarly L.A. As spring continues, following first-round flameouts by the Clippers and the hockey Kings, it’s again up to the Lakers to carry the banner for Southern California, just like in the old days.

It says here they’ll find a way to keep it going for at least another series. And before you scoff at Lakers in seven, remember who picked the Lakers in six over Memphis.

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​ Orange County Register 

CIF-SS boys tennis playoffs: Pairings, schedule for all divisions

• May 2, 2023

CIF-SS BOYS TENNIS PLAYOFFS

OPEN DIVISION

Quarterfinals, Friday, 3 p.m.

Loyola at University

Woodbridge at Palos Verdes

Harvard-Westlake at Peninsula

Claremont at Corona del Mar

DIVISION 1

First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

Beckman at Sunny Hills

Mira Costa at San Marcos

Villa Park at Arcadia

Simi Valley at Brentwood

King at Westlake

Redondo at Anaheim Canyon

San Clemente at Marina

San Marino, bye

Calabasas, bye

Santa Margarita at La Canada

Foothill at West Ranch

Oak Park, bye

Flintridge Prep at Los Osos

Dos Pueblos at Servite

Newbury Park at Aliso Niguel

Portola at Palm Desert

DIVISION 2

First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

Sage Hill at Capistrano Valley

Alta Loma at Great Oak

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Diamond Bar

Torrance at Yorba LInda

Valencia at Ayala

Windward at Placentia Valencia

Temecula Valley at Redlands

Corona Centennial at Huntington Beach

Edison, bye

Walnut at Royal

Crean Lutheran at Troy

Chaminade at South Torrance

El Dorado, bye

Hart at Buckley

West Torrance at Burbank

JSerra, bye

DIVISION 3

Wild-card round

Tuesday, 3 p.m.

Saugus at Ventura

First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

Wild-card winner at Cypress

Rancho Mirage at Ridgecrest Burroughs

Crescenta Valley at Nordhoff

Long Beach Poly at St. Margaret’s

Crossroads at Cate

Etiwanda at Riverside Poly

Maranatha at Le Lycee

Millikan at Whitney

Citrus Valley at Corona Santiago

South Pasadena at Arlington

Upland at Trabuco Hills

La Quinta at Cerritos

Foothill Tech at Geffen

Heritage at Murrieta Valley

Rowland at Westminster La Quinta

Burbank Burroughs at Tesoro

DIVISION 4

Wild-card round

Tuesday, 3 p.m.

A: Downey at Anaheim Fairmont

B: Santa Barbara at Thacher

C: Sultana at Western

D: Granite Hills at Lancaster

E: Oakwood at Summit

F: Village Christian at Mayfair

G: Fullerton at Coachella Valley

H: Westminster at Carpinteria

First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

Winner A at Long Beach Wilson

Redlands East Valley at Yucca Valley

Winner B at Bishop Montgomery

Winner C at West Covina

Winner D at El Segundo

Serrano at Jurupa Valley

Winner E at Riverside Notre Dame

Winner F at Keppel

Winner G at Webb

Patriot at La Salle

San Dimas at Arrowhead Christian

Brea Olinda at La Mirada

San Gabriel at Edgewood

Rancho Alamitos at Magnolia

Montclair at Warren

Winner H at La Serna

DIVISION 5

Wild-card round

Tuesday, 3 p.m.

A: Cathedral City at Indian Springs

B: Duarte at Schurr

C: Northview at Colton

D: Ganesha at Vista del Lago

E: Santa Ana Valley at Garden Grove Santiago

F: California at Bellflower

G: Knight at Barstow

H: Villanova Prep at Paramount

I: El Monte at Highland

J: Canyon Springs at Hillcrest

K: Chaffey at Liberty

L: Orange at St. Monica

M: Elsinore at Workman

N: Rosemead at Artesia

O: West Valley at Indio

First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

Winner A at Arroyo

Paloma Valley at Citrus Hill

Winner B at Chino

Winner C at Malibu

Winner D at Costa Mesa

Winner E at Sierra Vista

Winner F at Arroyo Valley

Winner G at Segerstrom

Winner H at Garey

Winner I at Jurupa Hills

Winner J at Orange Vista

Winner K at Silverado

Winner L at Quartz Hill

Winner M at Whittier

Winner N at Hemet

Winner O at Garden Grove

​ Orange County Register 

Janitors say they’re understaffed, overworked at Irvine Co.-owned properties

• May 2, 2023

Janitors at two Irvine Co.– owned commercial properties held protests Monday, May 1, claiming they’re understaffed, overworked and missing breaks as more people return to office work.

While not directly employed by the real estate development firm, they say Irvine Co. should step in to promote the hiring of more janitors to ensure workloads are equitable. The workers — represented by SEIU United Service Workers West — say that would reduce employee burnout and give them more time to properly sanitize the buildings to guard against the spread of COVID-19.

Irvine Co. declined to comment on the janitors’ concerns, but ABM Janitorial Services, which employs many of the workers, issued a statement late Monday afternoon:

“We greatly value the work, dedication, and excellence of our janitorial team members,” the company said. “We are in full compliance with our labor agreements and will continue to work with our union counterparts to resolve any open issues.”

One of Monday’s May 1 protests was held at this Irvine Co.-owned office building in San Diego. (Photo courtesy of SEIU-USWW)

Monday’s protests were held at the Newport Beach office of Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren and at another company-owned office building in San Diego. Their concerns are shared by more than 320 janitors who are employed at Irvine Co.-owned buildings throughout California.

Some claim they have to clean nearly 79,000 square feet of office space per eight-hour shift with just a 30-minute break. That’s the equivalent of cleaning more than 42 average-sized homes per shift, the union said.

“The workloads can be heavy, especially if there are large events going on,” said Rosa Cazares, who works at an office building in San Diego. “My arms ache from picking up so many trash bins. I’m dragging my feet at the end of the day.”

The 53-year-old National City worker said she’s often forced to miss her breaks in order to complete her work.

“They need to hire more people, but ABM recently laid off some employees, and that has increased the amount of work we have to do,” Cazares said.

SEIU-USWW spokesman Sebastian Silva said businesses in the office buildings are also being impacted.

“Tenants who lease space in the buildings are losing out because the buildings aren’t being properly sanitized,” he said.

Luis Fuentes, SEIU-USWW’s regional vice president, said increasing workloads have been an ongoing problem in the janitorial industry, even before the pandemic kicked in.

“For several years we have tried to bargain over these concerns with ABM and other employers at the bargaining table, but they have been unwilling to agree on reasonable terms and continue to withhold information to justify the work that they are assigning,” Fuentes said in a statement.

The janitors’ labor contract will expire April 30, 2024.

Fuentes said some janitors are having their work routes doubled as a result of layoffs, resulting in dangerous working conditions.

“That’s why workers are standing up to demand equitable, safe workloads,” he said.

​ Orange County Register 

University earns No. 1 seed in Open Division for CIF-SS boys tennis playoffs

• May 1, 2023

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It’s been called the Southeastern Conference, or the Trinity League, of high school tennis groups because of its strength and depth of tough competition.

No matter what nickname one gives Pacific Coast League tennis, it lived up to its reputation once again Monday.

Three Pacific Coast League teams — University, Beckman and Sage Hill — claimed No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions as the CIF-SS announced the boys team playoff pairings.

League champion University (23-1) is seeded first in the Open Division while third-place Beckman (16-6) and at-large entry Sage Hill (13-9) grabbed the top seeds in Division 1 and 2, respectively. Portola (11-7-1), the fourth-place finisher in the league, is seeded second in Division 1.

The Pacific Coast League’s recognition didn’t stop there. Second-place Woodbridge (15-4) also was selected to the prestigious Open Division, an eight-team group that enters its fourth year.

The premier division also includes No. 2 seed Corona del Mar (16-4), No. 3 Peninsula (19-4), No. 4 Palos Verdes (13-2), Harvard-Westlake (21-3), Claremont (15-1) and newcomer Loyola (14-3-1).

University, the defending Open champion, plays host to Loyola in the first round Friday while Claremont travels to Corona del Mar. Woodbridge plays at Palos Verdes.

The Trojans, a two-time Open Division champion, are coming off capturing a third consecutive team title at the Ojai tournament on Saturday. In late March, they finished second to Punahou of Hawaii in the All-American tournament.

Sage Hill could face stiff competition from Orange County foes in Division 2. Trinity League champion JSerra (17-2), Wave League champion Edison (14-3) and Huntington Beach (10-6) are seeded second, third and fourth, respectively.

Empire League champion Cypress (18-3) and South Coast League champion Tesoro (11-4) are seeded first and second, respectively, in Division 3.

In Division 5, Garden Grove (13-4), the Golden West League champion, and Segerstrom (12-11), the league runner-up. are seeded second and fourth, respectively.

The playoffs begin Tuesday with the wild card round and conclude May 12 with the finals at The Claremont Club.

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​ Orange County Register 

Foothill gets into CIF-SS baseball playoffs, draws a familiar opponent in first round

• May 1, 2023

Foothill’s baseball team got the good news Monday morning that it had received a spot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

It might not seem like good news looking at Foothill’s first-round opponent — Santa Margarita — in the Division 1 bracket.

Santa Margarita is the division’s No. 2 seed and won the Trinity League with a wildly impressive 14-1 league record. It’s also ranked No. 1 in the Orange County Top 25.

But that probably won’t worry Foothill. The Knights beat Santa Margarita 6-4 on Feb. 22. And last year in the CIF-SS playoffs, the Knights beat the Eagles 5-4.

Foothill takes a 14-14 record into this year’s playoffs. They tied El Modena for third place in the four-team Crestview League.

Santa Margarita is 22-6.

Only the top two teams in a four-team league receive guaranteed playoff berths, so Foothill needed an at-large berth to get into the playoffs. The Knights were one of the two at-large teams selected to the 32-team Division 1 bracket; Orange Lutheran (17-10-1), the fourth-place team in the Trinity League, is the other.

Servite (14-14) was a Division 1 at-large candidate.

Foothill coach Chris Price said the game at Santa Margarita on Feb. 22 could help the Knights on Thursday.

“We’ll be familiar with their field,” Price said. “And we’ll see a similar lineup like we did back then. It’s not a foreign environment and we had some success against them.”

Another rematch of two Orange County teams is Dana Hills at Aliso Niguel in a Division 3 first-round game Thursday.

Aliso Niguel beat Dana Hills 9-5 on March 3.

Aliso Niguel, champion of the Sea View League, is 14-13. Dana Hills, which finished third in the South Coast League is 11-17. Both teams go into the playoffs hot, with Dana Hills having swept Trabuco Hills in three games last week and Aliso Niguel having won seven of its final eight regular-season games.

Crean Lutheran (19-8) is Orange County’s only No. 1-seeded team. The Saints, who finished third behind co-champions Cypress and Pacifica in the Empire League, are in Division 4.

The playoffs begin Tuesday with wild card games in Division 7. There are wild card games Wednesday in Divisions 2 and 6. Wild card games are required for divisions that need them to reduce their first-round fields to 32 teams.

First-round games are Thursday in Divisions 2, 4 and 6. First-round games are Friday in Divisions 1, 3, 5 and 7.

All divisions play second-round games May 9, quarterfinals May 12 and semifinals May 16. The championship games are May 19 and 20 at Blair Field in Long Beach.

On Monday afternoon the weather forecast for Thursday said there is a 60 percent chance of morning showers. Some games could be moved to Wednesday to avoid a rainout. Moving a game to Wednesday could be a more viable move than a Friday move because of umpire availability.

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​ Orange County Register 

3 people dead after small plane crashes near Big Bear Airport

• May 1, 2023

Three people died on Monday, May 1 after a small airplane crashed near the Big Bear Airport, authorities said.

Big Bear Fire was called to an aircraft down in a vacant lot at the corner of Paradise Way and Maltby Blvd., Big Bear City, at approx. 2:02 p.m. Crews arrived on scene in approx. three minutes. There were three souls on board, all of which perished as a result of this accident. pic.twitter.com/3EL3pOLXwg

— Big Bear Fire Dept (@bigbearfiredept) May 1, 2023

The Big Bear Fire Department said on social media it responded to an airplane down in a vacant lot at Paradise Way and Maltby Boulevard at around 2 p.m. The location is about a mile from the Big Bear Airport.

Crews found a small private plane that was severely damaged. Three people were found on board the plane, and were all pronounced dead at the scene. Their names were not immediately released.

The plane is a single-engine Beechcraft A36, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The crash will be investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

​ Orange County Register 

‘Searching for Savanna’ author Mona Gable investigates violence against Native American women

• May 1, 2023

The statistics are gut-wrenching.

On some reservations, Native American women are murdered at more than 10 times the national average.

Nearly one in three Native American and Alaska Native women will experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.

Los Angeles journalist and author Mona Gable – whose articles have been published in The Atlantic, Vogue and The Daily Beast, among others – has long reported on violence against women. She was somewhat aware of the long, troubling problem of unsolved cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

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And in recent years, Gable had started to get in touch with her own Native American heritage, researching the life and culture of her paternal grandmother Naomi Jones, a member of the Chickasaw Nation who had died in childbirth.

In an effort to reclaim some of the heritage that hadn’t been much talked about in her family, Gable says she “was just looking for Native American stories. I felt like my own education was really just wretched in terms of what we learned in California public schools about Native American tribes.”

So when Gable happened upon a news report about the bizarre, unexplained disappearance in North Dakota of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman who was 8 months pregnant, her professional expertise and her personal interest collided: This was a story she needed to follow.

The result is “Searching for Savanna: The Murder of One Native American Woman and the Violence Against the Many,” published on April 25 by Atria. Gable will be appearing at Vroman’s to discuss the book on May 9.

In this true-crime saga, Gable chronicles the tragic and grotesque events – Savanna’s upstairs neighbors murdered her and tried to steal her infant; her body isn’t discovered for days – while exploring the complex interplay of culture, politics and racism that has entrenched violence against Native women.

She began researching the story over the phone: “I started calling people who were connected to the case, including the two female prosecutors who were really incredible. They were really fighting hard to see that Savanna got justice in the court system,” says Gable.

But quickly, she hit a wall – the people close to Savanna weren’t speaking to the media. “They’re super private and this was just so, so horrific for them,” she says.

Instead, they were busy organizing grassroots efforts that at first centered on the search for the missing Savanna, then on finding justice for her murder.

“They organized, like many Native American families end up having to do, because the police did not find her. They organized all these searches for her in Fargo and tribes from all over the Plains came to help. But also what was really fascinating to me was that the whole community in Fargo – which is a very small town and everybody kind of knows each other – all rallied behind the family, too.”

Gable would get to know the flight schedule to Fargo, North Dakota, very well over the course of four trips. “As soon as I could go to Fargo, I went to Fargo and I started trying to find people to interview about Savanna, who knew the family.”

It wasn’t easy, but eventually, she gained the trust of Savanna’s family and the community.

“I think a lot of it was just being patient, and if people didn’t want to talk to me, I respected that and then I would say, ‘Can I come back to you later?’ If they said yes, then I did that. Also, the prosecutors were very close to the family and they really vouched for me because I spent a lot of time with them. And so that’s really how I got my interview with Savanna’s mother,” she says.

Being on the ground in North Dakota helped imbue the story with details that otherwise would have been impossible to capture and helped her own understanding on many levels. “I felt it immediately when I was there that it was its own unique place and with its own politics, obviously, and culture. I visited Savanna’s reservation that she had grown up on. That was important to me to actually go there and talk to the tribal chief and see what it was like. I just try to be patient, and be empathic.”

Beyond the compelling story, by illuminating the problem of murdered and disappeared Native American women and their communities’ efforts to stop it, “Searching for Savanna” also takes on the true-crime narrative, which critics of the genre have called out for too often being exclusively centered around White victims and White law enforcement.

“I was very aware of that and that’s one reason I wanted to focus on the larger context,” Gable says. “Once I really found out how widespread this violence is and how long it had been going on against Native American women, I really wanted that to be a central theme of the book rather than just, ‘Oh, look at this horrific murder.’ What really motivated me was trying to not just tell Savanna’s story but the larger story of other women and girls, and what Native American advocates are doing – and have been doing – to try and draw attention to this problem.”

And in the process of writing the book, Gable found some of what she had been looking for personally: A deeper intimacy with her part of her family’s story.

“I think it was very affirming to me in the sense that I felt like it was something I really wanted to explore and, and felt good about exploring. In the back of my mind, I always was very wary about walking around saying, ‘Oh, I’m such and such percentage [Native American]’ –  especially when there was all this controversy surrounding Elizabeth Warren and her claiming Native American heritage she turns out not to have.”

Gable says she has “learned a lot” in the process of writing her book, and in fact is preparing to visit the Chickasaw nation of her grandmother, one of the five tribes that were forcibly relocated off their lands to go to Oklahoma on the infamous Trail of Tears.

“I just feel like I’m educating myself. Several Native American women that I’ve connected with in the process of this have been so welcoming, and all said to me, ‘It’s all about community. You don’t have to be ‘X-percent’ Native American. You don’t have to have grown up on the reservation. We want you to come home.’”

Mona Gable at Vroman’s

When: 7 p.m., May 9

Where: 695 E Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

Information: 626-449-5320, www.vromansbookstore.com/Mona-Gable-Searching-for-Savanna

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​ Orange County Register