Angels’ Zach Neto gets a well-deserved day off

• April 27, 2023

ANAHEIM — First it was Mike Trout who received the rest treatment on the days when Shohei Ohtani pitched, with that honor going to rookie Zach Neto on Thursday.

Call it at least a small sign of Neto’s rising profile that the Angels are comfortable taking him out of the equation in the hopes that Ohtani’s pitching can rule the day. It worked in the opener of the homestand when Trout sat against the Kansas City Royals and Ohtani guided a 2-0 victory.

Neto has delivered a solid start to his major league career, shoring up the left side of the Angels’ defense with his play at shortstop, along with some promising trips to the plate.

After playing 12 consecutive games since he was recalled from Double-A Rocket City, Neto was given time Thursday to bask in all he has delivered so far.

“(Manager Phil Nevin) came up to me saying I had the day off and just to just sit down in the dugout and kind of learn,” Neto said Thursday morning. “Kind of just sit back and just watch the game, learn things, just be a spectator. Later in the game, I might come in for defense or base running or hitting role.”

Neto showed Wednesday that he is settling in, changing to a two-strike approach early in an at-bat in order to combat the quick approach from A’s starter Luis Medina and ripped an RBI double to right-center in a five-run second inning.

Instead of his typical high leg kick as the pitcher delivers, Neto put his left toe down quickly then drilled a 96-mph fastball into the gap.

“I love his two-strike approach, I really do,” Nevin said. “I know everybody is going to strike out, I get that, this is a tough league. But I really like his two-strike approach and I don’t think it takes anything away from his power or the way his hands fly through the zone. … For him to make those adjustments as a rookie, in your first couple of weeks here, is impressive.”

As of now, Neto has no plans to abandon the high leg kick permanently, preferring to change things out of necessity, as he has been doing. If that makes him something of an unpredictable at-bat for opponents, even better.

“Yeah, for sure,” Neto said. “I think I think pitchers are expecting you to go straight to the big leg kick and being able to counter, with me just going straight to my two-strike (approach), I feel like it kind of throws them off a little bit. It might not. It might. But just being able to feel comfortable, that’s (the goal).”

Arriving as the roster replacement on the day fan favorite David Fletcher was sent down only added to the expectations placed on Neto, but last year’s No. 13 overall draft pick has handled it well.

“I’m definitely starting to feel more comfortable,” Neto said. “I’m starting to talk more with the guys, conversations with everybody: pitchers, hitters, catchers, everybody. I’m at that point now where last series against Kansas City, that’s where I felt more comfortable. It’s a new series now and I’m feeling even more comfortable. I’m just trying to keep being where my feet are and just go out there and keep producing.”

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

The underlying benefit of Patrick Sandoval throwing seven innings on Wednesday, and new-arrival Chase Silseth adding two more innings, is that Nevin had a fresh bullpen heading into Thursday afternoon’s game against the A’s.

And if Ohtani delivered the kind of outing the Angels were expecting, it would mean opening the road trip Friday at Milwaukee with a full arsenal of relievers.

Late-inning left-hander Jose Quijada hasn’t pitched since he struggled Sunday, giving up five runs in two-thirds of an inning. Late-inning right-hander Carlos Estevez was available again Thursday after a five-out save on Tuesday.

“It makes my decisions a little bit easier during the game, obviously,” Nevin said about handling his bullpen. “Or maybe it doesn’t. Now I have a lot of guys to pick from so I won’t know what to do today.”

I think our starters are getting better, they’re working on a lot of things and learning how to pitch deeper into games.”

WHO ARE YOU?

The Angels’ upcoming three-game series against the Brewers will pit the teams against each other for the first time since 2019 when the Angels pulled off a three-game sweep. It is also the first time the Angels have played in Milwaukee since 2016.

In the last 10 games between the teams, the Angels have won eight of them.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 1-0, 7.20) vs. Brewers (LHP Wade Miley, 3-1, 1.96), Friday, 5:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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​ Orange County Register 

Texas police say man continued dinner date after fatal shooting over $40

• April 27, 2023

By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON — A Texas man has been accused by authorities of pausing his dinner date to fatally shoot an individual who had allegedly posed as a parking attendant and scammed him out of $40, according to court records.

Erick Aguirre has been charged with murder in the April 11 death of 46-year-old Elliot Nix.

During a court hearing on Thursday, Aguirre’s bond was set at $200,000. His attorney, Brent Mayr, declined to comment.

Police say Aguirre, 29, and his date had parked their vehicles near a downtown Houston restaurant when Nix approached them, saying it would cost $20 each to park their cars, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Aguirre paid the $40 but was later told by a restaurant employee that Nix didn’t work for the parking lot and had scammed them, police said.

An employee at a nearby smoke shop later told police he saw Aguirre run back to his car, grab a pistol and go after Nix. The employee said both men went out of his view but he heard a gunshot before 8 p.m. and then saw Aguirre “nonchalantly walking back to his car with the gun in his hand” before putting the gun back in his car and walking back across the street to the restaurant and going inside with his date, according to the affidavit. Nix was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Aguirre’s date later told police she did not see or hear what he had done and was only told by Aguirre that “he had just scared the guy and everything was fine,” according to the affidavit.

Aguirre’s date said the couple then started walking to their table but they left and ate at another restaurant after Aguirre looked uncomfortable and suggested they go someplace else, according to the affidavit.

Aguirre’s date contacted police two days later after police had released photos of the couple, who had been identified by tips to Crime Stoppers.

“She wanted to do the right thing. She wanted to make sure that she came forward and told the police what she knew,” Rick DeToto, the woman’s attorney told KPRC.

Aguirre, who lives near Corpus Christi, located about 200 miles southwest of Houston, was arrested earlier this week. He remained jailed Thursday.

Houston criminal defense attorney Grant Scheiner, who’s not affiliated with the case, said that under state laws related to protection of property, Aguirre’s attorney will likely be able to make an argument that the use of deadly force was justified.

But the circumstances related to this case, including retrieving a weapon when there was no immediate danger and then continuing with one’s dinner after the alleged shooting, will not help Aguirre, Scheiner said.

In 2021, Texas lawmakers approved legislation allowing people to carry handguns without a license, and the background check and training that had gone with it.

“The problem is that guns are just so widely available and there’s a lot of misinterpretation on when you can use deadly force,” Scheiner said. “You have a lot of guns and not very much knowledge.”

Nix’s fatal shooting comes after several high-profile incidents around the U.S. where nonviolent situations — going to a mistaken address, getting into the wrong car or going into a neighbor’s yard to retrieve a basketball — devolved into shootings.

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​ Orange County Register 

UCLA quarterbacks thriving on the field and in virtual reality

• April 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES — The quarterback battle is continuing at UCLA football’s spring practices, both in real life and in virtual reality.

Ethan Garbers, a redshirt junior and contender for the starting position, has been equipped with a GoPro camera every practice that films his every repetition. Quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson said Garbers wears the camera because he gets a lot of repetitions, but it’s not an indication that he’ll be the starter.

“I’m watching (practice) from 50 feet back the whole field, 50 feet high or the end zone,” Gunderson said. “That’s not the view that they see it from. It’s a really, really good teaching tool to say, ‘Well, why didn’t you see this?’ ‘Well, Coach, that’s why I didn’t see it, I can’t.’”

The quarterbacks can wear an Oculus virtual reality headset and review the 360-degree footage as a training tool.

Although Gunderson didn’t give any hints Thursday morning as to who is ahead in the quarterback race, Garbers did have a productive day. He threw a touchdown pass to tight end Grant Norberg in a 7-on-7 drill and later during a live period orchestrated a three-play touchdown drive from the 20-yard line.

“Even last year when Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) was the guy, I was still treating it like it was my team, like I was going to be the starter,” Garbers said. “I think that’s, for every quarterback, that’s how you’ve got to treat every single day that you’re doing this and it’s important to have that mindset. You’re one snap away, one play away.”

Garbers played in six games last season and was 26 for 37 with two interceptions and two touchdowns.

Highly recruited freshman Dante Moore is on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of college game experience, but his quick release and accuracy have drawn attention. He completed a 25-yard pass to Cam Brown during a live period Thursday morning.

“It’s really impressive,” Gunderson said. “Off the field, he’s always in that building with a smile on his face. He’s fun to be around. He’s been a joy so far. He’s a football junkie and he likes being around the team.”

Gunderson also said he liked Kent State transfer Colin Schlee’s big arm and powerful throws as well as senior Chase Griffin’s experience and leadership ability.

Emotions run high

There was some chippiness toward the end of Thursday morning’s practice in the final live period in what has otherwise been an even-keeled series of spring practices.

Defensive back Jaylin Davies was involved in a scrum after he nearly broke up a pass to Kyle Ford. Multiple players jumped in before the group was separated and the team switched to designated offensive and defensive drills on opposite sides of the practice facility.

Gunderson rooting for DTR

The NFL draft begins Thursday night with several former UCLA players eligible. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson could be a Day 3 pick, and Gunderson has his fingers crossed.

“I’m hoping that he goes to the best situation possible,” the Bruins quarterbacks coach said. “I think here we’ve prepared him and given him everything we can to get him to the best place.

“So hopefully he can hit the ground running, he can go in there and learn and really soak in more. But excited for whenever, whatever it is. I hope it’s the best situation possible.”

Other Bruins in the NFL draft mix include running back Zach Charbonnet, Antonio Mafi, Jake Bobo, Jon Gaines II and Kazmeir Allen.

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​ Orange County Register 

What to watch: ‘The Citadel’ is a sexy, bonkers thriller — and worth your time

• April 27, 2023

The flood of streaming options surges this week with the release of Prime Video’s hugely hyped actioner “Citadel”; HBO Max’s take on the oft-told Candy Montgomery murder case, “Love & Death”; Paramount+’s redo of the seminal 1987 erotic thriller “Fatal Attraction” (yes, the boiled bunny movie); and Hulu’s adaptation of the daring literary thriller “Saint X.”

My pick, though, for the best of the week goes to “Sisu,” the stand-up-and-cheer action thriller from Finland that lands in theaters this week. And I can’t overlook the peppy “Polite Society.”

Here’s our rundown.

“Citadel”: In this visually arousing spy thriller, the impossibly gorgeous Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden are at the center of a smackdown between two rival agencies — one good but put out to pasture, the other dubious and posing a clear and present danger. Old memories re-emerge and fuel a cinematic bullet train that’s built around kickass action, sultry gazes and frenetic editing. Subtlety is all but extinct in every frame of this six-part Amazon extravaganza from the sometimes marvelous Russo brothers. It’s like a cocaine/Red Bull cocktail. Stanley Tucci co-stars as a former agent with worthwhile intel and he brings gravitas to this over-the-top malarkey. Either you’re gonna love this unruly behemoth or bemoan the sorry state of blockbuster entertainment. Honestly, I kind of dug it and love the pairing of the main stars who appear to be having fun at toying with each other and this “Mission: Impossible”-like scenario. Details: 3 stars out of 4; two episodes debut April 28, one additional episodes drops every Friday through May 26.

“Love & Death”: Hollywood loves to latch onto a story or a franchise and never let go. Such is the sensational murder case of Candy Montgomery, the ‘80s churchgoing momma from Texas who took up an ax and gave her former lover’s depressed wife 41 whacks. This time, scribe David E. Kelley takes a stab at bringing something different to this lurid, true-crime story. He gets about halfway there. At seven episodes, the HBO Max series overstays its own welcome but its two aces in the hole are Elizabeth Olsen as the to-the-point Montgomery, who has it all but desires to spice up her life, and Tom Pelphrey as flashy attorney/church member Don Crowder. Does it improve upon Hulu’s tighter, more intense “Candy” starring Jessica Biel, or the the more interpretive 1990 teledrama “A Killing in a Small Town” with Barbara Hershey? Not entirely. It makes you wonder what might have happened if Kelley branched out and concentrated on the life and career of Crowder, giving scene stealer Pelphrey more time to shine. Now that would have been one hell of a story. As is, “Love & Death” hits all the same notes as its predecessors. Details: 2½ stars; three episodes drop April 27, then one every week through May 25.

“Fatal Attraction”: At just under 2 hours, Adrian Lyne’s deliciously overheated 1987 erotic thriller — wherein a two-timin’ hubby hooks up with a woman who becomes an unhinged stalker when he tries to end the affair — achieved all it intended, even giving us some steamy kitchen sink sex even as it outraged some for how it portrayed mental illness. Now comes Paramount+’s flabby, un-sexy redo from Alexandra Cunningham. The series opens with once hot-shot attorney Daniel Gallagher (Joshua Jackson) getting paroled after a 15-year sentence for the murder of  Alex Forrest (Lizzy Caplan). Alex made life hell for Dan and his family after their affair, but also obsessed about other men she encountered. Since this is laboriously strung out, we spend time with Dan trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter Ellen (Alyssa Jirrels), and even his ex-wife Beth (Amanda Peet) while trying to clear his name. Both Jackson and Caplan tackle the iconic roles with passion and put their own stamp on them, but the pacing and the lack of sparks make this fizzle. I lasted through five episodes and walked away with the clear feeling it needed tightening — which you can say for a good many streaming series now. That said, it has it moments along with some delightful Easter egg references to the giggle-worthy original, including (of course) a white bunny and that unforgettable fury-fueled line from Alex that gets delivered with perfect deluded annunciation by Caplan: “I’m not going to be IGNORED, Dan!” That almost makes this “Fatal” worth watching. Details: 2 stars; three episodes drop April 30, followed by one episode each Sunday until the final two chapters are released May 28.

“Saint X”: My favorite limited series out this week comes from Hulu, but it’s likely to divide viewers. That’s because it takes a very conventional and sordid mystery premise — a college-age vacationer turns up dead in the Caribbean, with suspects aplenty — and then fires up a much more provocative tale about fear, racism, privilege and the dangers of hiding from our real selves. Yes, it’ll take a bit to readjust expectations, but executive producer Leila Gerstein’s version of Alexis Schaitkin’s novel legitimately deserves all of its eight episodes. It also dares to make all of its characters flawed, painfully real and sometimes irritating. Just like all of us. But for that reason you might get fed up with Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey) a New York documentary-maker who risks everything to find the truth about happened to her sister Alison (West Duchovny, David Duchovny and Tea Leoni’s daughter) on the final day of their vacation on Saint X. Dee Rees directs the first episode of this thoughtful series that says so much more than you’d expect. In pivotal roles as resort workers, Jayden Elijah and Josh Bonzie deliver the best performances — two you won’t forget. Details: 3½ stars; three episodes drop April 26 on Hulu with new episodes weekly.

“Sisu”: Sometimes after a grueling day at work where everyone’s demanding a pound of flesh from you, you need an action-packed movie where the Nazis get the crap beat out of them to properly unwind. That’s what you get and so, so much more in director/screenwriter Jalmari Helander’s gonzo masterpiece — a gory, irreverent smackdown of fascism set in WWII-era Finland and featuring an invincible 60something gold prospector with a cute dog and a lean and mean physique. With minimal dialogue, some of the best editing you’ll find in any film this year, arresting visuals and ridiculous action and stunts, “Sisu” is a ready-made genre classic and further evidence that Helander, director of “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” and “Big Game,” deserves to be in the big leagues. Action movies don’t get much better than this. Details: 4 stars; in theaters April 28.

“Polite Society”: In this hyperactive but thoroughly enjoyable action comedy, Londoner and wanna-be stuntwoman Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) suspects that the intentions of her sister’s (Ritu Arya) dreamy, filthy rich beau Salim (Akshaye Khanna) aren’t entirely noble. So she takes some rather bumbling steps to put the breaks on the courtship. Writer/director Nida Manzoor’s feature debut packs a comedic and subversive feminist punch, taking aim at arranged marriages and showing how damaging it is to marginalize women and not allow them to fully pursue their dreams. That it accomplishes all of that through humor and pratfalls without ever getting heavy-handed about its themes is a credit to Manzoor’s innate skill. She’s a filmmaker on the rise. Details: 3 stars; in theaters April 28.

“The Black Demon”: Sometimes after a grueling day at work where everyone’s demanding a pound of flesh from you, you need a killer shark movie to properly unwind. This is not that movie, though it begins with a twinkle of promise. Josh Lucas gives one of the most erratic performances of 2023 as a slick oil company man who takes the fam on a vacation near Baja while he inspects a decommissioned oil rig. The locals are none too keen to see his brood and soon they all — in a laughable plot development — get stranded on the rig where a menacing (and poorly lit) mega shark lurks. Marital spates, giggle-worthy overacting and bargain-basement special effects put this on a par with that 1987 shark stinker “Jaws: The Revenge.” Even the family dog screws up here, barking with his mouth closed. Details: 1 star; in theaters April 28.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

​ Orange County Register 

Nob Fire closes at least 16 miles of Pacific Crest Trail

• April 27, 2023

The Nob Fire burning in the San Bernardino National Forest led authorities to close Pacific Crest Trail from the 15 Freeway up to the San Bernardino and Angeles National Forest borders on Thursday, April 27.

The closure will be in effect until June 30 but the road could re-open earlier, according to Delyn Sieliet, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino National Forest.

She estimated the closure at 16 miles. The Pacific Crest Trail Association, in an announcement on its site, put it at more than 19 miles.

The fire also shut down both lanes of Lytle Creek Road from “the last residential house to the end of the pavement,” she said.

The Nob fire burned 200 acres and was 5% contained as of Thursday morning.

No one has been injured, Sieliet said. The fire is moving mostly west, further into the forest, she added.

“It’s in a pretty remote area,” she said. “This is a very steep rugged area.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Nob fire started near Gobblers Knob, northwest of Lytle Creek, on Wednesday and was first reported to authorities at 10:16 a.m. About 170 firefighters, three water-dropping helicopters and three air tankers were at the scene Thursday.

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Dick Groat dies at 92; former Pittsburgh Pirates star also played in NBA

• April 27, 2023

By Will Graves | Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — Dick Groat, a two-sport star who went from All-American guard in basketball to a brief stint in the NBA to ultimately an All-Star shortstop and the 1960 National League MVP while playing baseball for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, has died. He was 92.

Groat’s family said in a statement that he died Thursday at UMPC Presbyterian Hospital due to complications from a stroke.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family and Pittsburgh community,” Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement, calling Groat “a great player and an even better person.”

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, left, and Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon, right, flank Dick Groat at a ceremony honoring Groat before a 2014 game in Pittsburgh. Groat played basketball and baseball at Duke in the early 1950s, earning All-American honors in both.

Groat, who was from the Swissvale neighborhood just east of Pittsburgh’s downtown, starred at Duke in basketball and baseball in the early 1950s, earning All-American honors in both. His No. 10 jersey hangs inside Cameron Indoor Stadium after the program retired his number following the end of his senior season in 1952.

Groat attempted to play both baseball and basketball professionally, signing with the Pirates and being drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons of the then-fledgling NBA within weeks of each other in 1952.

While Groat said basketball was his first love, a stint in the military during the mid-1950s redirected the arc of his athletic career.

After leaving the service, Pirates general manager Branch Rickey persuaded Groat to focus on baseball, a decision that turned into a lengthy 14-year career split between Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Groat made the All-Star team in five seasons and led the majors in hitting in 1960 when he batted .325.

That season ended with Groat earning NL MVP honors for a Pirates team that upset the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

Groat finished with 2,138 career hits during a major league career that spanned from 1952-67. The Pirates announced last week that Groat would be inducted into the team’s recently established Hall of Fame later this summer.

A member of the college basketball and college baseball Halls of Fame, Groat was a two-time All-American guard at Duke in the 1950s and remains the second-leading scorer in school history, averaging 23.0 points for the Blue Devils. He was taken third overall by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1952 NBA draft.

Groat played 26 games for the Pistons, averaging 11.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. His basketball career, however, ended after he enlisted in the Army in 1953. He spent nearly two years in the service and when he was discharged, Rickey essentially threatened to take away Groat’s signing bonus if he didn’t turn his attention to baseball.

Groat relented and became one of the most consistent shortstops of his era. He played in eight All-Star games (there were two games a season for a brief period in the 1950s and 1960s) and during Pittsburgh’s improbable run to a World Series title in 1960, it was Groat and not future baseball Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski who spearheaded the Pirates’ unlikely rise from perennial also-ran to championship club.

The list of players who finished behind Groat in the 1960 NL MVP voting includes Hall of Famers Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Eddie Matthews.

A smooth defender who teamed with Mazeroski to lead the NL in double plays five times — a record that still stands — Groat played 1,290 games at shortstop for the Pirates, fourth on the club’s all-time list.

Pittsburgh traded Groat to St. Louis in November 1962. Groat responded by having the best statistical season of his career in 1963, finishing second in MVP voting behind Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax while hitting .319 with a major league-leading 43 doubles. Groat won a second world championship that fall as the Cardinals toppled the Yankees in seven games.

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Groat played briefly for Philadelphia and then the Giants before retiring after the 1967 season. He remained active in the Pittsburgh area following his playing days, including spending four decades as a color commentator for the University of Pittsburgh basketball team.

Groat is survived by daughters Tracey, Carol Ann and Allison, along with 11 grandchildren.

​ Orange County Register 

Fryer: Orange County releaguing plans just got more interesting

• April 27, 2023

Maybe the Trinity League football group stays as it is.

Or maybe the top six football programs in Orange County are placed in the same league, with a potential mix of public and private schools in that group.

And perhaps the Freeway League stays out of the football-only league plan and keeps its six schools together for football and everything else.

Orange County high school athletic directors met Monday to discuss possibilities for new league structures that will be in place for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years.

The plan for football-only leagues gathered support. That plan would be the creation of leagues that exist only in football. Those football leagues would be organized by using teams’ performances of the past two seasons to create a power-points profile and using that profile to place teams in football leagues. That power-points profile would be weighted: 65 percent would come from the most recent of the two seasons, with the other 35 percent derived from the first of the two seasons.

Three variations of the football leagues plan came out of the athletic directors meeting.

One of those three football proposals could lead to high-performing public school football teams like Los Alamitos and Mission Viejo landing in a six-team league with national powerhouses Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. If that proposed system was in place now Los Alamitos and Mission Viejo would be in that six-team group for the 2023 football season and current Trinity League football teams JSerra and Servite would not.

After that group of the top six power-points profile teams is assembled a second-tier group of six teams would be assembled and so on.

And that’s where the Freeway League comes in with this football-only leagues model. La Habra’s football team might be in that second-tier league with the likes of Edison, San Clemente and Yorba Linda, but La Habra’s other sports teams would remain in the current Freeway League, a league that’s been the same for 41 years, with Buena Park, Fullerton, Sonora, Sunny Hills and Troy.

But most of the Freeway League’s six schools want to stay out of the football-only leagues business and wants to remain intact for all sports. At least one school, though, would like to see La Habra playing elsewhere.

La Habra has won 21 of the past 25 Freeway League football championships, has won 93 of its past 95 league games and last season went 5-0 in the league with an average winning margin of 29 points.

Some Orange County athletic directors prefer that the Trinity League football group stay as it is, then using the power points profile system to organize the other 69 11-man football teams in the Orange County Area. The Orange County Area is not strictly based on geography, as St. John Bosco of Bellflower is placed in the Orange County Area for league affiliation purposes.

Mission Viejo football coach Chad Johnson supports that idea.

“If everything is equal,” Johnson said, “then I have no problem having the best teams grouped with the best teams. But when there are a lot of inequities … can we really make it equal or do we keep it separated?”

Johnson was an assistant coach at St. John Bosco so he knows about the inequities. Yes, Mission Viejo and many other public schools in a variety of sports get talented transfers and have student-athletes who reside outside of their attendance areas.

The large private schools’ major advantages are in fundraising. Most of the county’s public school football programs don’t have a golf tournament that raises thousands of dollars, something that is as common in the Trinity League as a pregame prayer.

And there’s more, like coaching stipends.

“When I was at Bosco we had an admissions department that helped us get out there to get kids and we had a much higher budget,” Johnson said. “I know coaches who were at my school who went from being a varsity coach here to working at Santa Margarita as a freshman coach where they’re making three times more than they made here.

“I want a budget that matches the teams we’re going to be in a league with, an advancement department to run a gala and a golf tournament to raise money like Mater Dei does. If we can do that, then put us in that league.”

Orange County high school principals meet May 15 at Christ Cathedral to discuss the proposals and select one that will be the way leagues will exist for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years.

That will be fun.

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California passes 1st-in-nation train emissions rules

• April 27, 2023

By Sophie Austin | Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Every day, locomotives pull rail cars filled with food, lumber, oil and other products through railyards near neighborhoods in Oakland, Commerce, San Bernadino and other California cities.

They run on diesel, a more powerful fuel than gasoline, and burning all that diesel produces pollution that is harmful for people who live nearby, as well as greenhouse gases. California’s Air Resources Board is trying to change that.

The agency voted Thursday to approve a rule banning the use of locomotive engines more than 23 years old by 2030 and increasing the use of zero-emissions technology to transport freight from ports and throughout railyards. The rule would also ban locomotives in the state from idling longer than 30 minutes if they are equipped with an automatic shutoff.

California would have to get authorization from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to move forward with the rule, which would be stricter than federal standards. Other states can sign on to try to adopt the California rule if it gets the OK from the Biden administration.

The rule is the most ambitious of its kind in the country.

“It’s going to be groundbreaking, and it’s going to address the diesel crisis that’s been poisoning communities near railyards for literal decades,” Yasmine Agelidis, a lawyer with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice said before the agency vote.

Diesel exhaust is a health hazard. According to California regulators, diesel emissions are responsible for some 70% of Californians’ cancer risk from toxic air pollution. The rule would curb emissions on a class of engines that annually release more than 640 tons of tiny pollutants that can enter deep into a person’s lungs and worsen asthma, and release nearly 30,000 tons of smog-forming emissions known as nitrogen oxides. The rule would also drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from locomotives, by an amount akin to removing all heavy-duty trucks from the state by 2030.

It’s important to tackle emissions from a sector that often burdens low-income residents and communities of color, and that has plans to expand passenger rail, said Air Resources Board Chair Liane M. Randolph.

Rail companies can participate in incentive programs run by the state to ease the cost of transitioning to zero-emissions locomotives, the agency said.

For activists and residents who’ve lived in areas affected by heavy rail pollution, the fight for cleaner trains is decades in the making.

Jan Victor Andasan, an activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, grew up in West Long Beach and now organizes residents there. It’s a neighborhood near the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that is “surrounded by pollution” from trains, trucks and industry.

“We support rail, but we support rail if they’re doing all their best to mitigate their emissions,” Andasan said.

Supporters of the proposed rule shared stories Thursday of children who live near railways having to share inhalers to ease asthma symptoms and families taking extreme measures to rid their homes of diesel fumes.

Some activists would like California to go further, for example to limit locomotive idling to 15 minutes. They are also concerned that increased demand from online shopping is causing more rail traffic that burdens communities.

But some say it’s too soon to implement the locomotive standards. Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, said the rule would be expensive for rail companies, and increased costs will mean higher prices for many goods that move by rail.

The Association of American Railroads said in a statement “there is no clear path to zero emissions locomotives.”

“Mandating that result ignores the complexity and interconnected nature of railroad operations and the reality of where zero emission locomotive technology and the supporting infrastructure stand,” the group wrote.

Freight railways are an efficient means to transport the roughly 1.6 billion tons of goods nationwide across nearly 140,000 miles, much cleaner than if those goods were trucked, it said.

Kristen South, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, said in a statement the rail company wants regulators to continue to work with them to come up with a more “balanced” solution that is not too ambitious for the current technology and infrastructure.

Union Pacific is working to cut greenhouse gas emissions in part by spending $1 billion to modernize locomotives and testing out engines powered by electric batteries, South wrote.

“We need the strongest, most protective in-use locomotive regulation because we know these CARB rulings have impact not only in California but across the U.S.,” said Cecilia Garibay, a project coordinator with the 50-member Moving Forward Network based at Occidental College.

The EPA recently approved California rules aimed at reducing emissions from heavy trucks. The rules will require zero-emission trucks, depending on the type, to make up between 40% and 75% of sales by 2035.

Heidi Swillinger lives in a mobile home park in San Pablo, a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area, along the BNSF Railway. She estimates that her home is just 20 feet from the tracks. She said it’s not uncommon for diesel fumes to fill her house, resulting in a “thick, acrid, dirty smell.”

“Nobody wants to live next to a railroad track,” Swillinger said. “You move next to a railroad track because you don’t have other options.”

Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna

​ Orange County Register