Orange County launches new office to assist immigrants and refugees

• April 27, 2023

Iryna Sobianina arrived in Orange County nine months ago with two bags of personal belongings, her 12-year-old daughter and the anxieties that come with having to build a new life in a foreign country.

When she arrived from her home in Ukraine after the whirlwind of leaving following the Russian invasion, she faced the new challenge of navigating the United States and supporting herself and her daughter. Among other things, Sobianina was worried about how her broken English would affect her ability to find a job.

“We just need a little bit of support and somebody who can show us… where to go,” Sobianina said.

That’s exactly what the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) in Orange County will be designed to do.

Proposed by District 4 Supervisor Doug Chaffee and District 1 Supervisor Andrew Do, the Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed this week to establish the new office, which will connect immigrants and refugees with housing, legal support and other necessary resettlement resources.

The office will be located at the county’s Community Service Center in Westminster.

“When refugees arrive, their most basic needs are missing,” Chaffee said during a press conference Wednesday announcing the new program. “They need food, housing, transportation, education, medical services and jobs. With more than 930,000 of our Orange County residents being foreign-born, our immigrant population is strong, growing and instrumental to our county’s success.”

He said this new office will ensure immigrants and refugees have access to basic services and resources and it will be streamlined under one roof. Collaboration between the county and community organizers will be pivotal, he said.

“We plan on hiring a director for the office with the input of numerous community-based organizations already working with our immigrant and refugee community,” Chaffee said. “We have a draft of a proposed mission statement and vision. We want them, through workshops, to work over and make certain we all agree on where we are going.”

Van Tran, chief of staff for Do, said resettlement programs and resources already exist in the county, but the office is centralizing everything to make it easier and more effective for immigrants and refugees to access.

“I stand here today a former refugee, an immigrant, serving as the chief of staff for Vice Chairman Andrew Do, who, like me, is also a former refugee from Vietnam,” Tran said. “We know what it means to flee a violent and oppressive regime. We understand what it means to live as refugees.”

More than 50 speakers voiced support for creating a centralized office when the Board of Supervisors was deciding on it Tuesday, and they shared what they hope to see, including support for all immigrants regardless of legal status and that the office be independent of other government entities.

“We’re hoping that the office will allow for better coordination and collaboration between the county, local cities and nonprofits,” Masih Fouladi, deputy executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-LA, said. “We hope that there will be the opportunity for the county to take advantage of federal philanthropic funding to better support immigrant and refugee populations within the county.”

The office will be reporting directly to the County of Orange’s CEO office, which Fouladi said makes sense for the time being, however added, “Ultimately, we would like the office to be an independent office, just like the Social Services Agency.

“The reason for that is immigrants and refugees touch every part of the county, and putting this office in any one particular department would potentially limit its ability, its capacity, its budget, to be able to touch all of those different facets of immigrant and refugee life,” he said. “So for now, being directly under the CEO makes sense because those limitations don’t come with current placement. And then we hope that it either stays under the CEO’s office and outside of other departments, or it eventually becomes its own department when the time allows.”

The cost of the new office is unknown, however Chaffee said his office will be donating $500,000 from his discretionary funds and the county will be applying for grants to help with costs.

For Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, the approval of this office is also personal.

“This is especially significant because when our family arrived back in 1965, (it was a) much different county. No services, no support, a very small immigrant population,” Sarmiento said of his immigration from Bolivia. “The county, like any other place in the country, has had some challenges with immigrants. There is still hostility out there. There is still some negativity toward immigrants.

“I hope this office will rise up and make sure we address (that),” he said, “and we make sure that we’re humane to one another, that we’re civil to one another and provide resources in a way that is befitting of who we are.”

Sobianina, who had been invited by officials to participate in Tuesday’s press conference, said she is thankful for how the local government and community organizations helped her find the resources she needed, including Uplift Charity, an organization dedicated to helping immigrants and refugees where she now works as a digital marketing specialist.

“I’m happy to be very useful,” she said, “and to know I’m making a difference for other people.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Amid bans, Black parents seek schools affirming their history

• April 26, 2023

By Cheyanne Mumphrey | Associated Press

DECATUR, Ga. — Every decision Assata Salim makes for her young son is important. Amid a spike in mass killings, questions of safety were at the top of her mind when choosing a school. Next on her checklist was the school’s culture.

Salim and her 6-year-old, Cho’Zen Waters, are Black. In Georgia, where they live, public schools are prohibited from teaching divisive concepts, including the idea that one race is better than another or that states are fundamentally racist.

To Salim, the new rules mean public schools might not affirm Cho’Zen’s African roots, or accurately portray the United States’ history of racism. “I never want to put his education in the hands of someone that is trying to erase history or recreate narratives,” she said.

Instead, Cho’Zen attends a private, Afrocentric school — joining kids across the country whose families have embraced schools that affirm their Black heritage, in a country where instruction about race is increasingly under attack. At Cho’Zen’s school, Kilombo Academic & Cultural Institute in an Atlanta suburb, photos of Black historical figures hang on the walls. And every single student and teacher identifies as Black or biracial.

In recent years, conservative politicians around the country have championed bans on books or instruction that touch on race and inclusion. Books were banned in more than 5,000 schools in 32 states from June 2021 to June 2022, according to free-speech nonprofit PEN America. Instructional bans have been enacted in at least 16 states since 2021.

Even when a topic isn’t explicitly banned, some teachers say the debates have caused them to back away from controversy. The situation has caused more Black families to leave public schools, opting for homeschooling or private schools that embrace their identity and culture. Public school enrollment of Black students between pre-K and 12th grade has declined each year measured in federal data since 2007.

“I think it is important to teach those harsh moments in slavery and segregation, but tell the whole story,” said Salihah Hasan, a teaching assistant at Kilombo Institute. “Things have changed drastically, but there are still people in this world who hate Black people, who think we are still beneath them, and younger children today don’t understand that. But that is why it is important to talk about it.”

Kilombo goes further, focusing on the students’ rich heritage, from both Africa and Black America. “I want him to know his existence doesn’t start with slavery,” Salim said of her son.

The private, K-8 school occupies the basement of Hillside Presbyterian Church just outside Decatur, an affluent, predominantly white suburb. Families pay tuition on a sliding scale, supplemented by donations.

Classrooms feature maps of Africa and brown paper figures wearing dashikis, a garment worn mostly in West Africa. In one class, the students learn how sound travels by playing African drums.

The 18-year-old school has 53 students, up a third since the start of the pandemic. Initially, more parents chose the school because it returned to in-person learning earlier than nearby public schools. Lately, the enrollment growth has reflected parents’ increasing urgency to find a school that won’t shy away from Black history.

“This country is signaling to us that we have no place here,” said Mary Hooks, whose daughter attends Kilombo. “It also raises a smoke signal for people to come home to the places where we can be nourished.”

Notably, the student body includes multiple children of public school teachers.

Simone Sills, a middle school science teacher at Atlanta Public Schools, chose the school for her daughter in part because of its smaller size, along with factors such as safety and curriculum. Plus, she said, she was looking for a school where “all students can feel affirmed in who they are.”

Before Psalm Barreto, 10, enrolled in Kilombo, her family was living in Washington, D.C. She said she was one of a few Black children in her school.

“I felt uncomfortable in public school because it was just me and another boy in my class, and we stood out,” she said.

Racial differences are evident to babies as young as three months, research has shown, and racial biases show up in preschoolers. Kilombo provides a space for kids to talk about their race.

“I’m Blackity, Black, Black!” said Robyn Jean, 9, while spinning in a circle. Her sister, Amelya, 11, said their parents taught them about their Haitian American heritage — knowledge she thinks all children should have. “I want them to know who they are and where they come from, like we do,” Amelya said. “But in some schools, they can’t.”

Last year, Georgia passed a bill known as the Protect Students First Act, which prohibits schools from promoting and teaching divisive concepts about race. Elsewhere, bills that restrict or prohibit teaching about race- and gender-related topics passed in states including Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In other states, such as Arkansas, restrictions have come via executive orders.

Proponents say the restrictions aim to eliminate classroom discussions that make students feel shame or guilt about their race and the history and actions of their ancestors.

The bills have had a chilling effect. One-quarter of K-12 teachers in the U.S. say these laws have influenced their choice of curriculum or instructional practices, according to a report by the RAND Corporation, a global policy think tank.

At Kilombo, daily instruction includes conversations about race and culture. Founder Aminata Umoja uses a Black puppet named Swahili to welcome her students, ask how they are doing and start the day with morals and values rooted in their African heritage.

The puppet might say: “‘Let’s talk about iwa pele. What does that mean?’ and then one of the children will tell us that it means good character,” said Umoja, who teaches kindergarteners through second graders.

Teaching life skills and values, Umoja said, has its roots in freedom schools started during the Civil Rights Movement, in response to the inferior “sharecropper’s education” Black Americans were receiving in the South.

The school follows academic standards from Common Core for math and language arts and uses Georgia’s social studies standards to measure student success. But the curriculum is culturally relevant. It centers Black people, featuring many figures excluded in traditional public schools, said Tashiya Umoja, the school’s co-director and math teacher.

“We are giving children of color the same curriculum that white children are getting. They get to hear about their heroes, she-roes and forefathers,” she said.

The curriculum also focuses on the children’s African heritage. A math lesson, for instance, might feature hieroglyphic numerals. Social studies courses discuss events in Africa or on other continents alongside U.S. history.

When she was in public school, Psalm said she only learned about mainstream Black figures in history, such as Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman. Now, she said, she is learning about civil rights activist Ella Baker, journalist Ida B. Wells and pilot Bessie Coleman.

Said Psalm: “Honestly, I feel bad for any kids who don’t know about Black history. It’s part of who we are.”

Data journalist Sharon Lurye contributed reporting from New Orleans.

​ Orange County Register 

Asa Hutchinson formally launches 2024 campaign in Arkansas

• April 26, 2023

By ANDREW DeMILLO and MICHELLE L. PRICE

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson formally launched his Republican presidential campaign Wednesday, pledging to “bring out the best of America” and aiming to draw contrasts with other GOP hopefuls on top issues, including how best to reform federal law enforcement agencies.

Hutchinson kicked off his 2024 bid in his hometown of Bentonville, on the same steps where he launched an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign 30 years ago.

“I ran as a conservative Republican when being a Republican was like having a career-ending handicap,” Hutchinson said, adding, “And now, I bring that same vigor to fight another battle, and that battle is for the future of our country and the soul of our party.”

The stalwart conservative, who announced in a television interview earlier this month that he intended to run, has been a rare figure among announced or expected GOP presidential hopefuls in his willingness to criticize former President Donald Trump, calling for him to drop out of the 2024 race instead of seeking another White House term.

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And while Trump has fixated his campaign message around his false claims about the 2020 election he lost, Hutchinson has said voters need a candidate who is not focused on the past.

While some of the other contenders who served in Trump’s administration struggled to carve out distance from Trump, Hutchinson has been able to draw from his lengthy resume in government and roots in America’s heartland. Without mentioning Trump by name Wednesday, Hutchinson offered a contrast to the former president’s derision of federal law enforcement by emphasizing his own background, with previous service as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and former undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“There are a few misguided leaders who say we should defund law enforcement, we should defund the FBI. I am here today in support of our law enforcement heroes,” Hutchinson said.

He went on to say, “We should not defund the FBI, but we do need serious reform to refocus the core functions of our federal law enforcement.” He said the FBI needs to be “trimmed down and focused on its No. 1 duty: leading our counterterrorism mission.”

Hutchinson, also a former U.S. attorney and congressman, launched his bid a day after President Joe Biden formally announced his reelection campaign. Hutchinson has argued that neither Biden nor Trump is focused on the future.

“I am confident we will even survive through the destructive policies of the Biden administration, but the time for change is now,” said Hutchinson. “It is time to bring out the best of America.”

On Wednesday, Hutchinson also offered a contrast to the isolationist approach some other Republicans have taken about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying he agreed “with those who say we do not want an unending war in Ukraine, and the best way to avoid a long war is to help Ukraine win today.”

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur and “Woke, Inc.” author Vivek Ramaswamy and radio host Larry Elder are also in the Republican race. They, along with expected and potential candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, have largely avoided criticizing Trump and have at times defended him.

Hutchinson’s announcement took place in the tree-lined town square of Bentonville, the birthplace of Walmart. The city of nearly 57,000 people in the northwest part of the state is where Hutchinson first served as a city attorney starting in 1977 and where he first ran for office with an unsuccessful bid for local prosecutor.

Hutchinson’s second gubernatorial term ended in January, but he’s been a defining figure of Arkansas politics for more than four decades. His successor is Trump’s former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Elected to the U.S. House in 1996, Hutchinson won a seat his older brother, Tim, had held for two terms. Serving as one of the House managers prosecuting the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton starting in 1998, Asa Hutchinson stayed in the House until 2001, when he resigned to serve in the Bush administration.

After the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association selected Hutchinson to lead a task force to study school safety and recommended putting armed guards at every school in the country.

Elected governor in 2014, Hutchinson signed a series of income tax cuts and restrictions on abortion, including an outright ban on the procedure that became effective when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Hutchinson later said he wished that the measure had included exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, but didn’t push for lawmakers to add those exemptions after the court ruling.

On Wednesday, Hutchinson steered clear of culture war issues otherwise dominant in some sectors of GOP politics, focusing on his overall commitment to safeguarding America as “democracy’s lighthouse.”

Hutchinson supported many of Trump’s policies but began to break with him over his lies about the 2020 presidential election. He has also criticized Trump for the 2020 peace deal he negotiated with the Taliban and for high government spending in his administration, calling Trump “one of the reasons that we added to our national debt and our deficit.”

Randy Zook, the head of the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, attended Wednesday’s launch and said Hutchinson found a way to “thread the needle” as governor even as the state moved further to the right. Zook cited as an example Hutchinson’s decision to support keeping the state’s Medicaid expansion, but with changes such as a work requirement that was blocked by a federal judge.

“I think there’s a lane for him,” Zook said. “The country is looking for a reasonable and sensible and positive conservative. Asa fits that bill.”

Hutchinson has also shown a willingness to criticize some of his other rivals, telling The Associated Press he disagrees with the way DeSantis has sparred with Disney after the company opposed legislation DeSantis signed in Florida barring school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“It seems very Trumpian to me as to how he’s approached it,” Hutchinson said. “I don’t think government ought to be punishing the private sector because we don’t like what they say.”

Kathy Travis, a retired schoolteacher from Bentonville who attended Hutchinson’s launch, said she voted for Biden in 2020 but was leaning toward supporting the former governor. Travis, who wore a shirt that said “#AnyoneButTrump,” said she was pleased with Hutchinson’s handling as governor of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He’s just a regular guy who’s made his way in politics and maintained his values,” Travis said.

Price reported from New York. Meg Kinnard contributed to this report from Columbia, S.C.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Monica OKs $122.5M settlement of sex abuse claims against ex-employee

• April 26, 2023

Santa Monica will pay $122.5 million to 124 people who alleged they suffered sexual abuse as children at the hands of a former city employee who volunteered with the Police Activities League, attorneys said on Wednesday, April 26.

The settlement, approved Tuesday night by the Santa Monica City Council, brings to nearly $230 million the amount paid by the city to resolve legal claims brought against the city over the alleged actions of Eric Uller, who killed himself in 2018 after being charged with various molestation counts.

Uller worked with the city as a systems analyst when he was arrested that year on allegations that he had been molesting boys as far back as the late 1980s.

Attorneys representing alleged victims said he volunteered with the city’s Police Activities League, claiming to be a police officer and even showing children a badge and gun to gain their trust.

“My heart goes out to the victims who have experienced so much pain and heartbreak,” Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis said in a statement. “The settlement is the city’s best effort to address the suffering of the victims in a responsible way, while also acknowledging that the harm done to the victims cannot be undone.”

Attorney Brian Claypool, who represented many of the plaintiffs, alleged that Uller groomed young children through the PAL program, often giving them food, money or gifts, and sometimes taking them to sporting events. He alleged in lawsuits that city officials were made aware of Uller’s behavior as early as the 1990s, but nothing was done.

“How can so many young kids in the city of Santa Monica have gone through this horrible abuse?” Claypool asked. “Putting aside the money that’s been paid … we need to know that the city of Santa Monica will never let this happen again.”

Uller was placed on leave immediately following his arrest. He was found dead in his apartment later that year, shortly after being charged with felony counts including lewd acts on a child and continuous sexual abuse.

City officials said that following the allegations against Uller, numerous steps were taken in an effort to avoid a repeat of such crimes.

According to the city, it expanded its requirements for Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training for all employees, volunteers and contractors, and established a child-protection officer position to oversee implementation of child abuse prevention measures.

“The city has remained vigilant by implementing best practices and strict policies to ensure that these unconscionable acts do not occur again,” City Manager David White said in a statement.

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​ Orange County Register 

‘Psycho bouldering’ at the End of the World

• April 26, 2023

As I approach the End of the World, a dark seaside cliff of hardened lava, my gaze pivots between the clifftop and the rolling swell of ocean below. The rocks look a lot higher in person than the photos led me to believe. Adrenaline hits me.

End of the World is on the west side of the Big Island of Hawaii, where my wife, son and our nanny, Sofia, took an eight-day vacation this month. Climbing was merely icing on the cake of what was supposed to be a freediving trip for me, but things didn’t quite turn out as planned.

At the side of the cave we eye potential routes and mime sequences we envision. “You can’t fall in the middle of the cave because the tide will smash you into the rocks,” a local teenager tells us. “I’ve seen people medivacked out of here.”

Great, I think. Just what we need: another trip to the hospital.

On the first one, fie days ago, I went in for what I thought was a sinus infection and ended up COVID positive. So much for freediving. Or much of anything really.

By the last day of our trip I was out of isolation, so we decided to check out the climbing.

“Deep water soloing” is the English term for climbing above the sea without a rope, but I prefer the European name for this crazy climbing style. “Psicobloc,” as they call it, literally means “psycho bouldering.” And it’s no wonder why: It’s easy to fall off uncontrolled and hit the water all wonky, and the currents are unpredictable.

Back in 2009, in Mallorca, Spain, my friend James was on a horizontal roof 30 feet above the waves. He groped for a hold, then tried to move off it when … crack! “Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!” He screamed as he plummeted, arms and legs flailing. His left hand dropped the broken hold and his back smacked the water with a sickening slap. Then all went quiet.

Sofia Gonzalez climbs bravely through the middle of the cave, just moments before her plunge into the sea. (Chris Weidner / Courtesy photo)

“James!” I shouted. “You OK?”

“Help…” he muttered feebly between gulps of seawater. I stripped my shirt and prepared to jump in, but by then he grabbed our safety line and signaled “OK.” With effort, he slowly hand-over-handed the rope and flopped onto a ledge like a drowned rat. His back was bright purple for days.

“You have to be careful which pockets you put your fingers in,” a Hawaiian kid says, snapping me out of my reverie, “because some will slice your fingers open.”

I downclimb to what looks like the easiest route and start climbing. Indeed, the sculpted rock is the sharpest I’ve ever climbed. The moves feel casual, but I’m nervous. I test every hold before pulling hard, even the ones that look solid. I top out shaky but satisfied.

Sofia and Heather, on the other hand, both float up it, unafraid.

Next, I attempt the belly of the cave but I can’t seem to find a way. I climb up and down to no avail. All I see is wet rock above, and the only possible routes look way harder than they’re graded. Excuses overwhelm my brain, and I retreat. I don’t even earn style points by falling off trying.

Heather Weidner on her successful ascent of “Rip Hide,” the central line in the cave — and a play on words considering what the sharp rock does to skin. (Chris Weidner / Courtesy photo)

Sofia, however, wins big points by going for it and whipping from the middle of the cave (against which we were warned). She takes a thigh-slapping plunge but escapes the tide to safety. Heather, like me, tries to find a way but backs off. Unlike me, she tries again. This time she commits and is upside-down in the roof, grasping for holds she can’t see. The water churns beneath her, white and foamy like the jaws of a hungry beast, yet her focus remains on each move. She pulls the lip — all four limbs spread-eagled — and then her left foot cuts loose. Her audience (me, Sofia and some locals) watches from the side and collectively gasps. She halts the swing, gets her foot back on and rocks over the final bulge.

After a week of vacation COVID, Heather’s success at the End of the World feels like a victory for us all.

Contact Chris Weidner at cweidner8@gmail.com. Follow him on Instagram @christopherweidner and Twitter @cweidner8.

​ Orange County Register 

NFL draft: Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud primed to extend Southern California’s quarterback legacy

• April 26, 2023

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Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud returned to their roots to complete their preparations for the NFL draft, where their names are expected to be among the first called Thursday during the opening day of the festive event.

The duo trained in recent weeks in Southern California’s fertile cradle for quarterbacks prospects, not far from their old high school campuses of Mater Dei and Rancho Cucamonga, respectively.

Young and Stroud worked under the watchful eye of private quarterback coach John Beck of Huntington Beach-based 3DQB, an elite training group. Beck also coaches at the same high school that produced the last Southern California quarterback selected in the top three of the NFL draft – Sam Darnold out San Clemente High and USC.

You think you’ve heard this story before? Try again.

Two Southern California quarterbacks with impressive collegiate credentials could be selected among the first four selections in Kansas City, Mo.

Image if John Elway or Carson Palmer had SoCal running mates at the very top of the draft in 1983 or 2003 when they were No. 1 draft picks after rising from Granada Hills and Santa Margarita. That’s what Young and Stroud appear on the cusp of accomplishing.

“It’s awesome and definitely enforces the belief that the SoCal region does the best job producing quarterbacks,” said national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins of 247Sports, who has covered Young and Stroud since high school. “I’m not surprised at all. We had Bryce rated as the No. 1 QB nationally and C.J. was No. 3, and both were predicted to be first-round picks.”

Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama, is projected to be selected No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers, according to one of the latest mock drafts at NFL.com.

Stroud, a Heisman Trophy finalist at Ohio State, is projected to be the next QB selected at No. 4 by the Indianapolis Colts.

The SoCal products polished their craft training with Beck and 3DQB. The Huntington Beach-based group was co-founded by Adam Dedeaux, grandson of former USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux, and Tom House, the throwing specialist who has worked with Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Palmer among others.

Beck stressed efficiency and awareness while tutoring Young (5-10, 204) and Stroud (6-3, 214) for the NFL combine, their pro days and private workouts for teams.

“There’s a lot of things that both these guys do extremely well,” said Beck, who played quarterback at BYU and coaches QBs at San Clemente. “But they are different, not only from body type but to the way their bodies move. … and teams recognize that (for their schemes).”

“Bryce is extremely twitchy. Great sense of space. He has like that sixth sense of what’s around him, so you see him more maneuverable in the pocket in trying to create lanes. He plays a lot like a point guard in basketball,” Beck added.

“C.J. has a bigger frame. If he is moving in the pocket, it’s for avoidance purposes to take off and run. … C.J. wants to come off a (shot)gun action and he wants to deliver a downfield shot to a deep crosser to somebody on an outlet. That’s what his strength is. He’s going to be able to stand in that pocket.”

Young’s lack of height has been heavily debated entering the draft, but Beck is confident how his protege views an evolving game.

“This is the relationship, size-wise, that he has to the game. It’s all he knows,” Beck said of Young, who grew up in Pasadena and played at Cathedral of Los Angeles before transferring to Mater Dei. “It used to be desired to have somebody 6-foot-4 stand back behind a big offensive line to deliver balls. It’s not like that anymore.”

“If you ever hear size come up, it’s more of a durability, not an ability, thing,” the coach added.

Young and Stroud will offer their future teams plenty of intangibles, too.

Dating to high school, Young is known for his composure, faith and close relationship with his father Craig. He also was the first Black starting QB at Mater Dei.

Stroud also stands up for his faith and became a gritty leader after his father Coleridge was sent to prison.

“When you see two guys who are at the front of the draft like C.J. and Bryce Young, you know this is a byproduct of the competition that we have in the CIF Southern Section,” said Rancho Cucamonga coach Brian Hildebrand, who coached against Stroud in high school while at Roosevelt.

“For two guys to come out of here who are from just miles apart from each other,” the coach added, “it’s awesome to see and you really pull for both guys.”

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​ Orange County Register 

NFL draft: Which UCLA players might get picked and when

• April 26, 2023

With the NFL draft beginning Thursday, here’s a look at where UCLA prospects can expect to be selected over the weekend.

Zach Charbonnet

Position: Running back

Year: Senior

Size: 6-foot, 214 pounds

Projections: Charbonnet isn’t talked about in most draft conversations because of the value placed on the position group, but he has been considered as a top five running back in this year’s draft. With only one or two running backs expected to go in the first round, Charbonnet may be considered a great value for a team on Day 2 of the draft and work himself into a starting role sooner rather than later.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Position: Quarterback

Year: Redshirt senior

Size: 6-2, 203 pounds

Projections: Thompson-Robinson’s stock has risen throughout the draft process after appearances at the East-West Shrine Bowl and the NFL draft combine. Thompson-Robinson has been mentioned as a Day 3 sleeper by draft pundits. He isn’t expecting to come in and start right away and believes joining the right system like the Eagles and Bengals could help further his development.

Atonio Mafi

Position: Offensive lineman

Year: Redshirt senior

Size: 6-3, 338 pounds

Projections: Mafi made a strong impression during the East-West Shrine Bowl with several highlights dominating defenders throughout the week surfacing on social media. His big frame and good hand placement could attract a team to take him in the 5th or 6th round.

Jake Bobo

Position: Wide receiver

Year: Redshirt senior

Size: 6-4, 206 pounds

Projections: Bobo isn’t afraid to use his size to his advantage when the ball is in the air and is an effective run blocker. He may not have the ideal speed for a receiver, but there’s the possibility a team could turn him into a pass-catching tight end if he’s willing to put on some weight. He has experience as a special teams returner and has the versatility that could help him become a late-round selection.

Jon Gaines II

Position: Offensive lineman

Year: Redshirt senior

Size: 6-4, 303 pounds

Projections: Gaines was developed into a versatile lineman at UCLA and helped anchor an offensive line that was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award. He’ll likely be a guard or center at the NFL level and is expected to be an early Day 3 pick. He played in the NFLPA Bowl and the East-West Shrine Bowl.

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Kazmeir Allen

Position: Running back/receiver

Year: Redshirt junior

Size: 5-9, 175 pounds

Projections: Allen has elite speed and versatility could make him an attractive late-round prospect for NFL teams. He has played as a running back and receiver during his five years with the Bruins. He’s also served as a primary kick returner.

​ Orange County Register 

$15 million donation fuels UCLA effort to create debt-free education

• April 26, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Fueled by a $15 million donation, UCLA announced an effort Wednesday to raise funds for student scholarships as part of a larger goal of creating debt-free education by 2030 by removing the need for student loans.

The UCLA Affordability Initiative was unveiled thanks to a $15 million donation by real estate investor and UCLA graduate Peter Merlone.

“UCLA was founded on the notion that access to a top-tier education should be available to talented individuals of all backgrounds and financial means,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement. “Peter Merlone’s gift, and the UCLA Affordability Initiative as a whole, will help us preserve our ability to attract stellar students from across the state — and set them up for success after graduation.”

According to the university, traditional discussion of college affordability generally focuses on the cost of tuition, while overlooking ancillary costs such as housing, books, food, transportation and other expenses.

With Merlone’s donation, UCLA will grant four-year scholarships of about $20,000 — at $5,000 per year — to as many as 35 California resident students beginning next year. University officials said the money could dramatically reduce or eliminate the need for student loans.

“First, UCLA is working to create a better understanding of the true cost of college and how that challenge is typically met, in part, through student loans,” Gary Clark, UCLA’s interim vice provost of enrollment management and executive director of undergraduate admission, said in a statement. “Second, we’re seeking to provide an alternative to student loans. With enhanced scholarship support from philanthropists, we can reduce the financial pressure of obtaining a UCLA education and ensure UCLA is the first choice for all California students who receive offers of admission.”

Merlone, who earned his UCLA degrees in 1979, said in a statement that he attended the university “in a different era, when student loans were rarely seen.”

“I care about making an impact with my giving, and scholarships are the most direct means for me to do that,” he said. “I know others share my concern for California’s students, and I hope my actions inspire more people to step forward with scholarship support.”

More information on the initiative is available online at tinyurl.com/7m75ck62.

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