California officials representing some of the wealthiest cities in the world traveled to one of the poorest villages in Africa this week to study universal basic income, a poverty solution they hope to expand in the Golden State.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and state Assemblymember Matt Haney from San Francisco, both Democrats, were in Kisumu County, Kenya, on Wednesday, where residents have received $25 a month for the past five years as part of the world’s largest guaranteed income project.

The trip was hosted by GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that partners with the charitable arms of companies including Google and the NBA to provide direct cash to people living in poverty.

Basic income programs provide cash to people in need with no strings attached. Advocates of universal income are pushing to broaden the practice, pointing to early research that shows it is more effective in alleviating poverty than some existing safety net programs subject to government-mandated rules and bureaucratic delays in services.

Haney and Mitchell were interviewed by telephone by The Times during a two-hour, off-road drive in rural Kenya to a universal income village. The irony of the international trip was not lost on the California officials, who represent one of the largest economies in the world.

But both, who have spearheaded local basic income efforts in California, spoke of similarities of the experiences of poverty despite geography.

“People using these programs back home are using them to make investments in education or work certification or to pay off debt. Here, that same sentiment means they can buy three goats or build a home,” Haney said Wednesday. “But it’s actually very similar in many ways and affirms our belief in this model — that when you give people cash and choice, they uplift themselves and their families and their communities.”

Haney said he paid for his flight with campaign funds, and Mitchell said her flight was paid for by Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. Mitchell said she used campaign funds to pay the travel costs of her chief of staff. GiveDirectly paid for their lodging.

While California is home to vast wealth, more than a quarter of Californians are living in or near poverty. Haney and Mitchell both represent cities with among the most millionaires and billionaires and at the same time homelessness and housing crises reflective of California’s yawning wealth gaps.

“What has become crystal clear to me on this trip is that poverty is poverty, regardless of continent,” Mitchell said.

The logistics of running any program in California would likely be vastly different than the Kenyan program based on many economic and cultural factors, but the officials said they were coming away with ideas. They pointed to a mobile money banking system that villagers use, so that cash deposits under the program are instantly accessible.

Californians struggle to gain timely access to their benefits, Mitchell said, and eligibility for one program could cut off your service to another because of income rules.

“Cash performs better than some of the other critical services that we in government prioritize. We create this cliff effect: if people do what we ask them to do like go to school or get the raise, then we drop them from the social safety net,” said Mitchell, a former state lawmaker. “My dream is for us to rethink the way we administer these programs and create a culture shift and cut some of the red tape.”

Last year, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the nation’s first state-funded guaranteed income program, offering grants to cities interested in piloting the direct cash services.

A program in Los Angeles County is directing $1,000 a month to 1,000 residents living in eligible neighborhoods for 36 months. Another county program will give $1,000 per month for two years to 200 young adults who were in foster care.

Existing programs in California are limited and early in the process but have been met with support from the Democratic-majority Legislature. A caucus committed to ending poverty in California was announced in the state Legislature last month, with Michael Tubbs, an adviser to Newsom, involved in policy discussions.

Tubbs was also on the Kenya trip, and served as mayor of Stockton, where he led a guaranteed income program that has been heralded nationally. He is the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and an organization called End Poverty in California and has not shied away from criticizing his fellow Democrats for not doing more for poverty relief.

“Poverty is not a reflection of intellect or aptitude or potential, it’s really a failure on a policy and systems level,” Tubbs said from Kenya on Wednesday. “Coming to another continent to get perspective was important because it really elevates the issue to a global human rights one and also reminds us that we’re not alone and we don’t have to have all the answers to try.”

A long-awaited outside investigation into political corruption in Anaheim made public Monday found a “potential criminal conspiracy” regarding $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds and alleged the city’s former mayor and the ex-head of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce participated in “influence peddling.”

The 353-page report by the Laguna Niguel investigative firm JL Group detailed numerous lobbyist meetings that weren’t reported as required by the city, raised concerns about the close relationship between the city and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, and characterized former Mayor Harry Sidhu’s signature Anaheim First initiative as “nothing more than a fig leaf for potential future public corruption and the wrongful diversion of public funds.”

The Anaheim City Council retained the JL Group last summer after a sprawling political corruption investigation by the FBI became public. Affidavits by one of the special agents involved accused Sidhu of a slew of misdeeds in connection with the city’s since-aborted sale of Angel Stadium to a company controlled by the team’s owner, and detailed a secretive, self-described “cabal” pulling the strings in Orange County’s most populous city that’s home to Disneyland and Major League Baseball’s Angels. Sidhu, who resigned but has not been criminally charged, has denied wrongdoing.

“We must ensure that this scandal and the contents of the report lead to meaningful reforms so that corruption never again takes root at City Hall,” Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said in a statement. “I am in the process of creating a Mayor’s Advisory Committee — made up of government, community, business and legal leaders — to thoroughly review the report and bring concrete reforms forward for discussion with the City Council.”

The JL Group investigation — the initial price tag was $750,000, but that doubled this year to a maximum of $1.5 million — does not contain any blockbuster revelations but depicts a city dogged by troubling conduct from politicians, lobbyists and other power brokers that extended far beyond what the FBI has laid out.

Perhaps the most serious allegation revolves around COVID-19 recovery funds. After the City Council approved Sidhu’s plan in March 2020 to direct $6.5 million to Visit Anaheim, a nonprofit organization that markets the city, the JL Group found that $1.5 million was diverted to another nonprofit controlled by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, headed at the time by Todd Ament.

“We determined that there was a conspiracy between then Mayor Sidhu, Ament, and the CEO and president of Visit Anaheim, Jay Burress,” the report said. “The facts showed that then-Mayor Sidhu directed Burress to divert $1.5 million to the Anaheim Chamber’s controlled nonprofit and that Ament instructed Burress to report, if asked about the $1.5 million, that it came from other reserve funds from Visit Anaheim.

“The chamber nonprofit entity that received this $1.5 million in 2020 did not list those funds in their tax returns that were filed in December 2022. … This activity demonstrates the nature and style of Ament and Mayor Sidhu’s intentions on inappropriately and potentially unlawfully diverting public funds in inappropriate ways.”

Ament, Burress and Sidhu didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the report, JL Group representatives met with Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer and several of his staffers in March to discuss “potential criminal conspiracy and a theft/wrongful diversion” of the $1.5 million.

In a statement about the report, Spitzer said, “I am reviewing with my team to evaluate it for potential criminal conduct and I have no time frame at this time on any decisions.”

Last month, the Anaheim City Council voted to release copies of the unredacted report to the state attorney general’s office and the FBI.

Ament, who pleaded guilty to four federal felonies last year as part of a deal to fully cooperate with the government, is a central figure in the JL Group report.

“Overall, we observed that Sidhu had a close connection to Ament and the Anaheim Chamber and engaged in what could only be described as influence-peddling through Ament,” the report said. “The evidence pointed to the fact that individuals who wanted to meet with the mayor had to first go through Ament and then pay some form of tribute in order to reach Mayor Sidhu. This could include donations to political organizations, joining the Anaheim Chamber, or participating in other pet projects favored by then Mayor Sidhu.”

The biggest effort among Sidhu’s “pet projects” was Anaheim First, a nonprofit with the stated goal of investing $250 million in the city’s neighborhoods over 10 years.

“We determined that Anaheim First’s initial creation was essentially a political data-mining operation wherein information from individuals attending and participating in local district meetings was captured and thereafter used improperly for political purposes,” the report said, crediting Ament and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce for coming up with the organization. “Additionally, there was evidence to show that Anaheim First was a mechanism used to freeze out the City Council’s political minority.”

The report was unsparing in its conclusions about Ament and Sidhu: “All these activities point to the fact that Mayor Sidhu and Ament were working in concert on a grander plan to peddle Mayor Sidhu’s influence and to unjustly enrich themselves in the process.”

Among a litany of other ethically or legally concerning situations set out in the report — including many unrelated to Ament and Sidhu — is allegedly rampant unreported lobbying. The report concluded that Jeff Flint, a prominent lobbyist whose clients have included Disney and the Angels, and former Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle “likely falsely reported their lobbying activities by neglecting to register a number of clients and by failing to report numerous meetings that have been verified by calendar entries, emails and meeting attendees.”

The report found 38 suspected unreported lobbying meetings involving Flint and various city officials between 2019 and May 2022, when the FBI’s investigation became public.

Flint and Pringle didn’t respond to requests for comment.

All of it amounted to a city, the report found, that didn’t function as it should.

“In summary, the greater weight of the credible evidence demonstrates that there has seemingly existed a genuine contempt for government transparency and public participation relating to governmental projects and agreements concerning the actions of certain powerful actors in the city, including Ament, Flint and Sidhu,” the report said at the end of one section. “The rules and law seem to get in the way of certain elites’ desires and interests.”

A woman accused of attacking a Watts street vendor over the weekend after she was asked to pay for her food was arrested, police said Thursday.

Los Angeles police identified the woman as 36-year-old Renee Latrice Hines of Bakersfield. The incident took place on Sunday evening when street vendor Joana Vasquez, of Tacos Ortiz on Grandee Avenue and East 103rd Street in Watts, was attacked by a female driver of a 2007 pink Lexus.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Departments arrived on the scene at 6:35 p.m. and determined that Hines “punched and pepper sprayed” Vasquez when Vasquez “asked the suspect to pay for the tacos she had consumed,” according to a police news release.

Tacos Ortiz staff recorded the incident and posted the video on Instagram on Monday afternoon. In one clip, the woman exits her vehicle and charges the vendors, appearing to throw a bottle at the stand’s male owner.

She then launches into a table and grabs Vasquez by the shirt, attempting to drag her away from the stand. As she yanks Vasquez with her right arm, she punches the much smaller vendor with her left arm and screams obscenities before eventually stopping after about 15 seconds, according to the video.

The stand’s owner then runs to record the woman’s license plate, and she responds by grabbing the vendor’s plastic sandwich board sign and chucking it at him. She continues yelling profanities before returning to her car on the passenger side as another person drives the vehicle away.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics treated Vasquez for her injuries.

Hines was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and her bail was set at $30,000, police said Thursday.

On Wednesday, New Jersey-based Yusen Logistics America confirmed that it had terminated an employment agreement with the woman, who had been temporarily assigned as a contractor to the global supply chain company by her employer, Carson-based Simplified Labor Staff Solutions. The woman was not identified by her employer.

Yusen released a statement saying it “does not condone violence of any kind.”

“We were alerted to an online video of a temporary worker whom her employer had assigned to work at one of our warehouses,” the statement read. “This person is no longer assigned to work at our company and will not be allowed to return to any of our facilities.”

Calls to Tacos Ortiz were not immediately returned.

In the taco stand’s Instagram post, the video includes a message that reads in Spanish, “be careful with these types of people. They arrive ordering food and when it comes to paying, they act like this.”

A Yusen spokesperson said the company was tipped off by street vendor activist Edin Alex Enamorado.

Enamorado organizes a regular group chat with several South Los Angeles street vendors and was informed that same day of the incident.

Enamorado said the woman had dined at Tacos Ortiz “at least two times before” and then fled without paying.

On Sunday, Tacos Ortiz employees decided to record her return, leading to the assault, according to Enamorado.

He said recent violence against street vendors has been fueled by various issues.

“It’s a perfect storm between racism, the economy and the stigma of people thinking that sellers don’t want to obtain permits,” Enamorado said. “There’s a pettiness and hatred that builds up for street vendors that leads to hatred.”

As a result of Enamorado’s efforts, Simplified Labor hired Tacos Ortiz to cater a Yusen company lunch on Friday, according to an Instagram post that featured Simplified Chief Executive Ashi Wahi.

“We really like to support our community,” Wahi said in the video while speaking with Enamorado. “Thank you for the cause that you believe in that we also believe in because the right thing needs to be done.”

City News Service contributed to this report.

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SAN BERNARDINO — If El Segundo Little League manager Danny Boehle had a crystal ball, he’d have used his powers to foretell spending at least one day this week back at home.

“I think what’s going to have to happen is we’re all going to drive home for half a day so our laundry and everything else gets done, and come back,” Boehle said Monday. “But (Little League) wants us to stay here, and so we’ll figure that out, and if I had a crystal ball it would be easy.”

While Boehle might do a fair amount of speculation in his role as a chief financial officer in the aerospace industry, he was not able to predict what was going to happen next at the four-team Little League West Region tournament.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, though, so it’s totally spur of the moment and it’s ‘This is what we have to do now,’” he said.

It’s been four days since Southern California’s 11- and 12-year-old champions defeated Hawaii, 6-0, in the first West Region semifinal, and Boehle’s team has spent the rest of the week just one victory away from a flight to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

“It’s been nothing but a dream out here for these kids, myself included, and we look forward to continuing the mission,” Boehle said. “I think the city of El Segundo is finally getting put on the map.”

El Segundo takes on the Northern California champions, San Ramon’s Bollinger Canyon Little League, in the winner-take-all West Region championship game at Al Houghton Stadium on Friday at 6 p.m. (ESPN).

In the tournament opener for both teams on Aug. 5, Bollinger Canyon starting pitcher Jay Murai struck out six over the first three innings but allowed four runs – three earned – on six hits.

“NorCal has some very good pitchers,” Boehle said. “They throw hard, but like I said, ‘We’d rather face speed (pitching) than offspeed.’ That’s a big deal for us.”

Jackson Kalish and Louis Lappe combined to hurl 2⅔ innings of scoreless relief of Ollie Park. Brody Brooks and Lappe had two hits apiece as El Segundo rallied to win, 4-3, with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

“NorCal only had three runs on three hits – and one of them was a solo home run – so if we stay away from the mistakes that we made by walking a batter or a hit-by-pitch batter to put people on base, then it gives us a really good opportunity,” Boehle said.

So far in San Bernardino, Brooks and Lappe are a combined 7 for 8 with six runs at the top of El Segundo’s lineup. Lennon Salazar is 2 for 4 with two runs.

Little League West Region final

Who: El Segundo vs. San Ramon’s Bollinger Canyon

When: Friday, 6 p.m.

Where: Al Houghton Stadium, San Bernardino

TV: ESPN

Blood banks serving the Inland Empire are struggling to meet demand during summer — when students are out of school and people go on vacation instead of rolling up their sleeves to donate.

Blood banks are hit with a summer shortage almost every year, said Dina Colunga, a spokesperson for LifeStream Blood Bank, the Inland Empire-based blood bank.

LifeStream is not the only one struggling with a shortage. The American Red Cross is also seeing the issue.

About 25% of LifeStream’s inventory comes from high school blood drives, Colunga said, “so when school is out of session during June, July and the first part of August, our supply takes a substantial hit.”

Adults and children with cancer often receive platelet transfusions. About 50% of a hospital’s platelet supply is used by cancer patients, a LifeStream news release states.

LifeStream is seeking type O, type O double blood and type O double red cell donors, Colunga said.

As of Thursday, Aug. 10, LifeStream has a two-day blood supply. Before the summer donation slowdown, the blood bank had a five-day supply.

LifeStream, which runs centers in San Bernardino, Riverside, Ontario, Victorville, Murrieta, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Hemet, is urging eligible donors to help out.

Is there a solution to get donors to blood banks?

LifeStream focuses on educating the public about the importance of regularly donating blood.

“If everyone who is eligible to donate blood would donate at least three times a year, we could avoid this situation,” Colunga said.

It also helps that blood banks such as LifeStream offer gift cards or giveaway entries for concert tickets.

For example, through Sunday, Aug. 20, anyone who donates blood with LifeStream will be entered for a chance to win two floor-seat tickets for Beyonce’s concert at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday, Sept. 1.

Appointments can be scheduled through the LifeStream website.

Meanwhile, the American Red Cross, a non-profit national organization that provides shelter, food and hosts blood drives, has seen a nationwide decrease of about 25,000 blood donations during the first two summer months, a news release said.

The Red Cross is asking for type O negative, type O positive, type B negative, type A negative blood donors and platelet donors, the release states.

Every donor through the end of August will receive a $10 gift card, the release states.

To donate, an appointment must be made through the Red Cross website, via the American Red Cross Blood Donor app or by calling 1-800-733-2767.

Officials with the San Diego-based Southern California Blood Bank, which serves southwest Riverside County, could not be reached to discuss its blood supply.

Summer is not the only time blood banks see fewer donations. In fact, another rough patch could be months away.

“The winter holidays are also a tough time for blood collection for similar reasons,” Colunga said. “Every year, summer and winter holidays are our toughest times.”

Following intense, secret negotiations, Iran on Thursday moved four U.S. citizens from prison and placed them under house arrest, in what U.S. officials hope will lead to their eventual release from Iran, the Biden administration said.

A fifth American had already been transferred to house arrest and will become part of the group as negotiations continue, people familiar with the negotiations said. They are being kept at a hotel under guard, a lawyer representing one of the Americans said.

The deal was described as a first step in what could be a multiweek process, the people familiar said.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson confirmed Thursday that the Americans had left prison.

“We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were unjustly detained and has placed them on house arrest,” Watson said in a statement. “While this is an encouraging step, these U.S. citizens — Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and two Americans who at this time wish to remain private — should have never been detained in the first place.”

“We will continue to monitor their condition as closely as possible,” she added. “Of course, we will not rest until they are all back home in the United States. Until that time, negotiations for their eventual release remain ongoing and are delicate.”

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called the development “a positive step,” adding that “there is more work to be done to get them home.”

“I believe this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare,” he said.

Iran will eventually get access to the equivalent of about $6 billion in frozen assets held by South Korea, but with restrictions that the money be spent only on humanitarian-related materials, the sources said. Iran remains under numerous U.S. and European sanctions. Though the money is Iran’s, earned through oil sales, gaining access to it now will likely irk Republicans and other hard-liners on Iran. The Biden administration is also considering releasing an undisclosed number of Iranian prisoners once the U.S. citizens are home.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, criticized the deal as “the largest ransom payment in American history.”

Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization focused on conflict prevention, pointed out that the money belongs to Tehran.

“The ransom is never paid by the hostage taker itself. This is Iran’s money and Iran is paying for the hostages, not the United States,” Vaez said.

Vaez, a friend of Namazi who is familiar with the details of the negotiations, said he expects the Americans to be released in “a matter of weeks” once the assets reach Doha. But the deal is far from done, Vaez said.

“There’s a lot of friction between Iran and the U.S. and their respective allies in the region that could result in an unintended or inadvertent incident,” he said.

“It’s basically several weeks of potential multiple ‘Argo’ moments that could derail this entire process,” he added, referring to the movie about the rescue of Americans during the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis.

U.S. negotiators worked through Swiss, Omani and Qatar officials to reach the agreement. Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations. Full freedom for the Americans may yet be a long way off, the people familiar cautioned.

Namazi, who has been held by Iran for eight years, and Shargi are businessmen and Tahbaz is an environmentalist. At least one of the other two who were not immediately identified by U.S. officials is a woman. Lawyer Jared Genser represents Namazi, considered the longest-held American in Iran.

Babak Namazi, Siamak’s brother, said the family was grateful for the release.

“While this is a positive change, we will not rest until Siamak and others are back home; we continue to count the days until this can happen,” the brother said in a statement released by Genser’s office. “We have suffered tremendously and indescribably for eight horrific years and wish only to be reunited again as a family.”

The three identified men are dual U.S. and Iranian citizens and were imprisoned on what Iran called security-related charges. Namazi’s father, Baquer, was also arrested by Iran in 2016 when he went to visit his son but was released in October on “humanitarian grounds,” Tehran said. He is 86 years old and in poor health.

Tahbaz and Shargi were arrested in 2018.

The U.S. citizens were being held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, where reports of torture, brutal interrogations and poor conditions are rampant.

Earlier this year, Siamak Nazari gave a dramatic telephone interview to CNN from the prison. He said he had become desperate, felt abandoned and complained bitterly about his plight. Addressing President Biden, he said: “I implore you, sir, to put the lives and liberty of innocent Americans above all the politics involved and to just do what’s necessary to end this nightmare and bring us home.”

His family said at the time that his decision to risk an appearance on CNN was a sign of his desperation.

Washington has long accused Iran, like Russia and a handful of other countries, for seizing U.S. citizens as a way to blackmail or gain concessions. Successive U.S. governments have labeled such prisoners “wrongfully detained” and works for their release through an office created expressly to handle hostage affairs.

The U.S. has imposed harsh sanctions on Tehran tied to its military activities in the region, human rights abuse and other “malign” behavior.

The Biden administration has insisted that negotiations over the prisoners have been conducted independent of talks with Iran over curtailing its nuclear program. The nuclear talks have stalled.

The negotiations over the U.S. citizens held in Iran are the latest in a string of clandestine prisoner swaps the Biden administration has secured over the last two years.

The president secured the release of human rights activist Paul Rusesabagina, who was held in Rwanda, in March. In one of the more high-profile cases, the administration struck a deal with Russia in December for the release of Brittney Griner, an American basketball player who was arrested in 2022 for possession of vape cartridges containing hash oil.

Griner was released in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian convicted arms dealer. She has used her freedom to advocate for other Americans who are being held overseas, including Paul Whelan, a former Marine and corporate security executive who was arrested in Moscow in 2018 and has been imprisoned on espionage charges.

Like presidents before him, Biden has made bringing Americans who have been taken hostage or wrongfully detained a priority since he took office. Former President Trump claimed to have helped free numerous Americans, and during the 2020 presidential campaign he released a video appearing with six of them, including the Rev. Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina pastor who spent nearly two years in detention in Turkey.

Last July, Biden issued an executive order directing his administration to use financial sanctions and visa bans on both states and individuals as a means to help secure the release of Americans being held. The order also directed agencies to share intelligence with family members of people who have been detained.

But several Americans are still being held abroad, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia in late March on espionage charges. Gershkovich has denied the charges and the U.S. has determined him to be wrongfully detained.

Near the mouth of the Santa Ana River, between Newport Beach and Huntington State Beach, lies the habitat of two at-risk bird species whose survival is threatened by jumping, splashing, barking dogs.

But local authorities may also be partly to blame for the increased risk to the birds by failing to strictly enforce the rules about dog activity near the habitat, according to environmentalists.

The California least tern, an endangered species, and the western snowy plover, a threatened species, nest near the mouth of the river and rely on it to survive. Of the almost 2,400 dogs that were observed on the beach in 2022, about 70% were off their leash, which threatens the bird habitat, according to a recent report by Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit clean water organization.

The unleashed dogs are chasing birds or splashing around in areas where they usually feed, said Ray Hiemstra, associate director of policy and projects for Orange County Coastkeeper.

For the least terns, right next to the mouth of the Santa Ana River is their primary nesting place in this area, and when they’re nesting they need a lot of food to survive, Hiemstra said.

“They’re not like our pets or something,” he said. “There’s not just abundant food lying around. They’re always living on the edge. So anything that makes life harder for them … all of that takes away from their ability to either forage and gather food, or it burns up their energy reserves that they have.”

Activists called for the threatened birds to be protected in 2018 after people were seen using the area near the habitat as a de facto dog beach.

The California least terns nest in fenced-in areas near the mouth of the river. Being close to the river and ocean also allows them to fish for their young and teach them to fly.

The snowy plovers nest in mini-enclosures in the area. They stay by the shore to eat kelp, vegetation and invertebrates in the sand.

The least tern population has grown over the years, but they will need to be managed in colonies for a long time, said Scott Thomas, conservation vice chair for the Sea and Sage Audubon Society, which is the Orange County chapter of the National Audubon Society.

Thomas said the least terns have an innate fear of predators such as dogs, and that being chased by them reinforces that fear.

Because of the terns’ fear, he added, there is a pattern that is now seen among them: They fish in the morning, bring their young out, teach them to fly and then leave once they see dogs running around.

Whether a dog is leashed or not, it’s the same to the bird, he said.

The least terns have exceptional eyesight, and just sensing the dogs from a distance can cause them to expend a lot of energy protecting their young during the nesting season, said Catherine Steinberg, 2024 director of the Sea and Sage Audubon Society.

“A lot of different species need the area, and when dogs are here, they can’t use it,” she said.

The jurisdiction of the area around the birds’ habitat is shared by several agencies, with rules and enforcement levels that vary by agency.

The area around the river’s mouth is posted with signs stating where dogs and people aren’t allowed. Signs also warn that the area is a habitat for the plover and the least tern.

Steinberg said she hasn’t seen dog activity decrease in the couple of years since the signs were erected.

Hiemstra said that because of the different rules and levels of enforcement, people are getting mixed messages.

At the Santa Ana River itself, people and dogs are not allowed in the channel. The Orange County Flood Control District is responsible for the river. The area west of the river is Huntington State Beach, where dogs are not allowed on the sand. The area east of the river is Newport Beach, where dogs are not allowed on the beach between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Before and after that time, dogs are allowed only while on a leash.

However, Hiemstra said, the varying enforcement allows people to disregard the rules at times. On the state beach side, he said, he has seen authorities give out tickets, but fewer tickets are issued in other areas.

According to the report by Orange County Coastkeeper, law enforcement showed up more than 300 times during the group’s 1,275 surveys in the area, and no citations were observed. Still, the survey noted that warnings were given to dog owners on the Newport Beach side.

If someone has a dog on the sand at Huntington State Beach, usually an employee will notify an officer who will let the visitor know dogs are prohibited and that they have to go back to the pavement, according to a park aide.

At Newport Beach, officers patrol the beach when they can between their service calls and other responsibilities, with at least one proactive patrol check per day, said Nick Ott, an animal control officer with the Newport Beach Police Department. Officers also go out to the beach when they receive calls about any violations, he added.

Ott said officers try to mix what time they patrol the beach, which can affect when other people or groups see them. He said he’s had situations where even though he’s been patrolling every day for a week, there are people who say they have brought their dogs out everyday that week, meeting him for the first time.

Steinberg said she’s never seen anyone cited for allowing their dog to frolic in the water. She added that she would like to see more enforcement of the ordinances already in place.

Hiemstra said he is calling on owners to keep their dogs on a leash and comply with other rules, making it safer for people and better for the birds.

“We just need to be respectful and share the beach,” he said. “Not just among ourselves, but with wildlife too.”

In the summer of 2022, UPS driver Esteban Chavez Jr. died from what his family maintains was heat stroke suffered while delivering packages in Pasadena. In June, Postal Service letter carrier Eugene Gates Jr. collapsed during his route, and later died at a hospital.

Farmworker Efraín López García died last month after working the fields in South Florida. Also last month, a utility lineman collapsed and died in Marshall, Texas, after working in a heat and humidity environment equivalent to 100 degrees.

Those are dispatches from the battle against the punishing heat that has enveloped much of the United States this summer. It’s a battle in which men and women with no choice but to work outdoors are on the front lines. In many occupations and many parts of the country, they’re likely to be taking serious casualties.

Figures for this summer and last haven’t yet been published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but its reckoning for 2011 and the prior 10 years is horrifying enough: 436 workplace deaths over that 11-year period, including 36 in 2021.

The figures are almost certainly underestimated, because heat-related workplace deaths are often attributed to some other cause — cardiac conditions or accidents, for example. The toll is almost certain to be higher this year because of the unprecedented severity of the summer heat wave.

The crisis didn’t come as a surprise. In February, the attorneys general of California, New York, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania asked the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an emergency standard for heat exposure by May 1.

They projected (accurately) that heat this summer would outmatch the last two summers, and pointed out that tens of millions of workers, half of whom were people of color, worked in conditions that “put them at grave danger of injury, illness, or death from heat exposure.”

They said OSHA mandates should encompass access to water, shade and rest periods whenever the temperature exceeded 80 degrees. OSHA turned them down, responding that emergency standards would entangle the agency in litigation from industry lobbies, distracting from its efforts to craft a permanent regulation and probably resulting in “no tangible results for workers.”

Still, President Biden recognized the urgency of action by announcing several steps on July 27 to protect workers. Among them, he directed acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to issue a heat hazard alert aimed at reemphasizing to employers the existing right of workers to be protected from heat sickness. “Employers have a legal and moral responsibility,” the alert says, “not to assign work in high heat conditions without protections in place for workers where they could be literally worked to death.”

They include requirements that employers provide adequate cool water, rest breaks and shade or a cool rest area for employees; give new or returning employees the chance to acclimatize — that is, to become used to working in hot temperatures — and to recognize the symptoms of heat sickness. Su’s agency is also vowing to step up enforcement of safety rules on construction sites and farms, the most heatstroke-prone locations.

Biden’s directive aimed to fill a vacuum: No federal law specifically imposes heat safety standards for workplaces. Five states do — California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Minnesota.

California was the first state in the nation to implement heat standards for workers, in 2006. They require access to fresh water at all times and mandate shade when the temperature climbs past 80 degrees. Agricultural workers must be granted one cool-down rest period of at least 10 minutes every two hours when the temperature exceeds 95 degrees.

The missing element in California’s rules is coverage for indoor workers, such as those employed in vast inland warehouses that often have no cooling equipment other than fans, which merely move the stifling heat around. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working on rules for indoor workplaces since 2017; the latest draft, which requires that they be cooled to less than 87 degrees, will be subject to public comment through Aug. 22.

The California rules are enforced by the chronically underfunded and understaffed Cal/OSHA, which has a lot on its plate. Its jurisdiction includes not only industrial workplaces but amusement rides, elevators, mines, tunnels and asbestos and carcinogen monitoring.

That hasn’t stopped employers from grousing about the state regulations. The Construction Industry Safety Coalition has called the state’s rules “confusing and ineffective,” though its complaints sound a bit overwrought.

The builders were especially irked by a state rule that sources of drinking water be “located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working.” That’s a “subjective standard,” the construction lobbyists complained, yet Cal/OSHA “regularly cites employers” for failing to meet it.

In his July 27 announcement, Biden referred to a heat-safety rulemaking procedure launched in 2021 by the federal OSHA. But there lies the rub, because Big Business lobbies have done everything in their power to challenge the OSHA process and ensure that whatever standard finally emerges will be shot through with loopholes and diluted into insignificance.

The power of those lobbies was made unmistakably clear in Texas on June 16, when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill nullifying city and county ordinances mandating water and shade breaks for outdoor workers.

Among them were ordinances enacted in Dallas and Austin requiring 10-minute breaks every four hours for construction workers. The new state law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, also prohibits municipalities from enacting any such ordinances in the future.The utility worker in Marshall died six days after Abbott signed the law.

You’ve heard all the arguments that Big Business has mustered against the OSHA rule-making before. They’re no different from the arguments raised against any new regulation: One-size-fits-all rules never work, they’re too expensive, they’re “onerous,” they duplicate rules we already have, they require years of further study, etc., etc., etc.

Then there’s this all-purpose defense employers cite against any and all workplace regulations: We care deeply about our workers, so what’s the problem? Or as the American Farm Bureau Federation puts it, “Farmers and ranchers value the agricultural workforce.”

Never mind that government figures show that farming, and its associated occupations in fishing and forestry, had the second-highest toll in heat deaths in 2017-2020, exceeded only by the construction trades. (Says the Construction Industry Safety Coalition: “Workplace safety and health is a priority for all members of the Coalition, and each is committed to helping create safer construction jobsites for workers.”)

The business argument, as embodied in statements by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry lobbies, is that heat regulations are fine, as long as employers don’t have to pay the costs, the regulations don’t interfere with their ability to drive employees as hard as they can and the government is forced to waste years on extensive studies to support any new rules.

Think I’m kidding? Look at the eight-page comment about the proposed federal heat rule submitted to OSHA in January 2022 by Marc Freedman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Freedman started by asserting that the factors contributing to heat injuries and heat sickness are “so varied, so often unpredictable and so often unknown to employers” that determining when a rule should apply is almost impossible.

He asks, when is “hot” really “hot”? He writes, “There is no data of which we are aware that indicates at what point … the risk of such illness becomes significant.” He quotes from a 2020 OSHA hearing in which a U.S. Postal Service lawyer got an expert to acknowledge that it was impossible to say exactly how many workers out of 1,000 would be sickened by laboring in 100-degree heat.

“From the data I’ve seen,” the expert said, “it’s more likely that employees will become sick on a 100-degree day compared to an 80-degree day. But I can’t give you an exact number.”

To the Chamber, this pretty much showed that there’s no point in writing a heat-safety rule because one can’t be crafted to meet an “objective” standard — at least not unless OSHA is required to “commission or request additional studies” — which obviously would delay a rule for years.

Then there’s the cost argument. “For many of our members,” Freedman wrote, “measures such as acclimatization and work-rest cycles threaten to directly and substantially impair their employees’ productivity and therefore their employers’ economic viability.” It’s a harsh choice, isn’t it: Work till you drop, or go on the unemployment line.

Is there any relief for the working man or woman from the heat? The record shows that government is a thin reed to lean on — but also that one remedy for heat-related injury and illness is unionization. A study published earlier this year by researchers at the universities of Connecticut and North Carolina found that in 2017 through 2020, more than 80% of exertion-related worker fatalities (a category that includes heat-related deaths) were among nonunionized workers.

Indeed, it was the Teamsters union that forced United Parcel Service to agree to install air conditioning in its sweltering delivery trucks, as part of the contract reached last month. Even in that case, the agreement took years of negotiations and an imminent strike threat to achieve — leaving the question of how many more workers will have to succumb to the heat before the rest of Big Business wakes up to its responsibilities.

Are you striving for success in your digital marketing endeavors? If so, then buckle up and get ready to ignite your company’s rise to the top with our comprehensive Digital Marketing Guide! 

Specializing in SEO Orange County, Ignite Digital has compiled tips and tricks from real-world professionals who are successfully growing their businesses in today’s ever-changing technology age. 

Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to amplify your reach or a brand aiming higher than the competition, we have everything you need to blaze ahead! Keep reading for more information on how our guide can help rocket launch your dream career by 2023.

Strategies to Increase Your Visibility on Social Media

Having a strong social media presence is a must in today’s digital age. But with so many users and platforms available, where should you focus your efforts? Here are some strategies to increase visibility.

• Define your target audience 
• Research which platforms your audiences are most active on
• Consistently post valuable content
• Engage with your followers
• Use hashtags to help your content get discovered 
• Collaborate with influencers to amplify your reach
• Ensure your profile is complete and visually appealing

By implementing these strategies, you can increase your visibility on social media and ultimately drive more traffic to your website or business.

Keys to Growing Your Email List and Engaging with Potential Customers

As a business owner, building a substantial email list is crucial to the growth and success of your brand. With a healthy email list, you have a direct line of communication with potential customers, allowing you to engage with them on a personal level and provide value through targeted content. 

However, growing an email list is not a one-and-done task. It requires a strategic plan to attract leads, entice them to subscribe, and keep them engaged. One effective way to do this is by offering lead magnets, such as:

• E-books
• Webinars 
• Exclusive discounts

Additionally, consistently providing relevant and informative content through email campaigns can help build trust and establish your business as a credible source in your industry. 

By prioritizing the growth and engagement of your email list, you can drive customer acquisition and strengthen relationships with your audience.

Essential Tools and Resources for Effective Digital Marketing Measurement

In today’s world of digital marketing, it is more important than ever to understand the effectiveness of your campaigns. To do this, businesses need to make use of essential tools and resources designed for digital marketing measurement. These tools help you evaluate:

• Engagements 
• Click-through rates 
• Performance of individual campaigns
• Overall success of your marketing strategy

By leveraging these tools, businesses can:

• Measure the return on investment of their marketing efforts
• Make better data-driven decisions
• Increase their bottom line. 

While there are dozens of tools available, finding the right ones to effectively measure the success of your digital marketing campaigns can be a challenge. 

How to Leverage SEO and Paid Advertising for Maximum Impact

As businesses increasingly move online, it’s essential to have a strong digital marketing strategy. Two of the most popular strategies are SEO and paid advertising. 

With the rise of search engine algorithms, it’s crucial to leverage SEO techniques to increase your website’s visibility and rank higher on search engine result pages. Paid advertising, on the other hand, offers businesses the opportunity to target specific audiences and increase their reach. 

Combining these two strategies allows you to maximize your impact and bring in more customers. By investing in SEO and paid advertising, businesses can:

• Gain more online visibility
• Generate more leads
• Increase revenue

It’s essential to work with professionals who understand how to navigate the complex world of SEO and paid advertising to create a comprehensive strategy that works for your business.

Tips on Crafting Engaging Content That Will Jumpstart Your Business

Creating engaging content for your business is a crucial element to jump-starting your online presence. 

From blog posts and social media updates to website copy and email newsletters, quality content is what sets you apart from your competition and captures the attention of your target audience. Some tips for crafting engaging content include:

• Understanding your audience
• Utilizing compelling visuals
• Telling a story
• Providing valuable information

By incorporating these strategies into your content planning process, you can elevate your brand and connect with your audience in a meaningful way. 

So, invest time in understanding and testing what resonates with your audience, experiment with different content formats and styles, and stay consistent in providing relevant and engaging content to capture and retain their attention.

Proven Tactics for Growing Brand Awareness and Customer Loyalty in 2023

In an ever-evolving digital age, building brand awareness and customer loyalty can be a challenging task for any business. However, with the right tactics and strategies, achieving these goals is a definite possibility. 

From our research, we have identified some proven tactics that will be crucial for businesses looking to grow their brand awareness and customer loyalty in 2023. Some of these strategies include:

• Developing engaging social media content
• Investing in influencer marketing
• Personalizing customer experiences
• Leveraging data analytics to gain valuable insights into consumer behavior

By utilizing these tactics and staying up-to-date with the latest trends, businesses can strengthen their brand value, attract and retain customers, and ultimately drive growth and success in the years ahead.

2023 is the year to take your business to the next level. Our Digital Marketing Guide covers a wide array of topics, from strategies to increase social media visibility, SEO tips, paid advertising essentials, and content engagement tactics, and ends with customer loyalty growth strategies 

All these pieces combined can help level up your company’s digital marketing success by 2023. With our insights here at Ignite Digital, you’ll be set up for stellar success across every aspect of digital marketing, from SEO Orange County results to branded customer loyalty programs. 

All it takes is the diligence and determination of getting started, and you can witness firsthand how our cutting-edge guide sparks an impressive evolution in the way you market online this coming year!

Meet one of the newest jockeys on the Southern California circuit, Antonio Fresu, who came here in late April from riding in Dubai and Italy and immediately has made a name for himself at Del Mar, Santa Anita and Los Alamitos.

The 31-year-old Italian native was sixth in the Del Mar jockey standings with seven victories heading into Thursday’s card and hopes to score his first graded-stakes victory sometime during the 31-day summer meet. He won 14 races during Santa Anita’s Hollywood Meet (16%) and five at Los Alamitos (20%).

Fresu credits his agent, Tom Knust, for much of his early success.

“He’s doing a great job because he managed to put me on some nice horses straight away since I moved,” Fresu told the Southern California News Group during a phone interview Thursday. “It’s been good. I think many people appreciate him because he’s a good person, too, and that’s really important in the business.”

It’s also important to win races when you get the opportunities, and Fresu has done his share of winning since arriving in the U.S. He credits his seven years of riding in Dubai and his experiences of racing on the turf in Italy and England for his success.

“Europe is a totally different style,” he said. “Dubai not that much. Dubai is dirt so you ride on the dirt over there already. It’s basically almost the same. When you come here, you have the background of Dubai so you are a step forward. You’re not a completely European jockey because you’ve been riding on the dirt for several years.

“The dirt (Dubai) is almost the same as it is here. Fast pace. All those things. Then when it comes to the grass, you have your background in Europe, which is really good. It’s good for me that I have been experiencing both of them before I moved here.”

Trainer Doug O’Neill and Fresu’s Dubai agent, Michael Adolphson, are the major reasons why he’s here riding. They encouraged him to come to the U.S., and when Fresu knew he’d have the opportunity to ride for one of the most successful trainers in the country and also be represented by a veteran agent, the decision was easy.

“It helped when Doug started riding us because we had a stable he could ride for,” Knust said. “But once he started working horses for people and started talking to trainers and stuff, they could tell that he’s a very classy rider and he can ride, and then it got a lot easier for me.”

Knust also said his client has a clock in his head.

“He’s got a good judge of pace and where the horse should be at,” he said. “I think that’s a strong suit, too. In the mornings when he works horses, he knows exactly how fast he’s going. That’s just something you can’t teach somebody. You have it or you don’t have it.”

Growing up in Italy, Fresu went to riding school at 18 and rode his first race just two months shy of his 20th birthday. He rode in Italy for a couple of years, moved to England and then to Dubai. He was riding winters in Dubai and summers in Italy before he moved here.

His idol? None other than fellow Italian Frankie Dettori.

“He’s been very kind to me,” Fresu said. “He actually helped a lot when I came over because he’s been here before. I’ve known him for a long time and, other than being probably the best jockey, he’s also a very good person. It’s always nice to be around him when he’s over and I’m a little bit sad that (he’s retiring), but he’s been my idol many, many years.”

Fresu’s biggest victory to date came aboard Zenden for trainer Carlos David in the 2021 Grade I Dubai Golden Shaheen. He’d been itching to come to the U.S. for a number of years, but the fact he had no contacts in the U.S. and with COVID striking, his move was delayed until this year.

“It’s hard to move when you have nothing,” he said. “Now I took my chance because Michael and Doug O’Neill said I should move here. I say, ‘OK, now we can talk.’ The support from Doug, plus a good agent, I say, ‘OK, now I can move. I can do it.’”

He hopes the move is permanent, but it’s been tough. His wife, Veronika, is still living in Dubai and he gets lonely sometimes. But concentrating on his career and making new friends in the jocks’ room has made life a bit easier.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt when you’re riding for successful trainers like O’Neill, Philip D’Amato, Peter Miller, Mark Glatt and Carla Gaines.

“You need to meet new people,” Fresu said. “The only one I knew from before was (fellow Italian) Umberto Rispoli. All the rest I needed to meet them and to know them once you’re here. To be honest, they are all nice guys. I felt comfortable straight away since the beginning. It’s nice to meet people like this. It makes you feel better. At the moment, I am here and I am enjoying it here. We’ll see what the future holds.”

Follow Art Wilson on Twitter @Sham73

Meet one of the newest jockeys on the Southern California circuit, Antonio Fresu, who came here in late April from riding in Dubai and Italy and immediately has made a name for himself at Del Mar, Santa Anita and Los Alamitos.

The 31-year-old Italian native was sixth in the Del Mar jockey standings with seven victories heading into Thursday’s card and hopes to score his first graded-stakes victory sometime during the 31-day summer meet. He won 14 races during Santa Anita’s Hollywood Meet (16%) and five at Los Alamitos (20%).

Fresu credits his agent, Tom Knust, for much of his early success.

“He’s doing a great job because he managed to put me on some nice horses straight away since I moved,” Fresu told the Southern California News Group during a phone interview Thursday. “It’s been good. I think many people appreciate him because he’s a good person, too, and that’s really important in the business.”

It’s also important to win races when you get the opportunities, and Fresu has done his share of winning since arriving in the U.S. He credits his seven years of riding in Dubai and his experiences of racing on the turf in Italy and England for his success.

“Europe is a totally different style,” he said. “Dubai not that much. Dubai is dirt so you ride on the dirt over there already. It’s basically almost the same. When you come here, you have the background of Dubai so you are a step forward. You’re not a completely European jockey because you’ve been riding on the dirt for several years.

“The dirt (Dubai) is almost the same as it is here. Fast pace. All those things. Then when it comes to the grass, you have your background in Europe, which is really good. It’s good for me that I have been experiencing both of them before I moved here.”

Trainer Doug O’Neill and Fresu’s Dubai agent, Michael Adolphson, are the major reasons why he’s here riding. They encouraged him to come to the U.S., and when Fresu knew he’d have the opportunity to ride for one of the most successful trainers in the country and also be represented by a veteran agent, the decision was easy.

“It helped when Doug started riding us because we had a stable he could ride for,” Knust said. “But once he started working horses for people and started talking to trainers and stuff, they could tell that he’s a very classy rider and he can ride, and then it got a lot easier for me.”

Knust also said his client has a clock in his head.

“He’s got a good judge of pace and where the horse should be at,” he said. “I think that’s a strong suit, too. In the mornings when he works horses, he knows exactly how fast he’s going. That’s just something you can’t teach somebody. You have it or you don’t have it.”

Growing up in Italy, Fresu went to riding school at 18 and rode his first race just two months shy of his 20th birthday. He rode in Italy for a couple of years, moved to England and then to Dubai. He was riding winters in Dubai and summers in Italy before he moved here.

His idol? None other than fellow Italian Frankie Dettori.

“He’s been very kind to me,” Fresu said. “He actually helped a lot when I came over because he’s been here before. I’ve known him for a long time and, other than being probably the best jockey, he’s also a very good person. It’s always nice to be around him when he’s over and I’m a little bit sad that (he’s retiring), but he’s been my idol many, many years.”

Fresu’s biggest victory to date came aboard Zenden for trainer Carlos David in the 2021 Grade I Dubai Golden Shaheen. He’d been itching to come to the U.S. for a number of years, but the fact he had no contacts in the U.S. and with COVID striking, his move was delayed until this year.

“It’s hard to move when you have nothing,” he said. “Now I took my chance because Michael and Doug O’Neill said I should move here. I say, ‘OK, now we can talk.’ The support from Doug, plus a good agent, I say, ‘OK, now I can move. I can do it.’”

He hopes the move is permanent, but it’s been tough. His wife, Veronika, is still living in Duabi and he gets lonely sometimes. But concentrating on his career and making new friends in the jocks’ room has made life a bit easier.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt when you’re riding for successful trainers like O’Neill, Philip D’Amato, Peter Miller, Mark Glatt and Carla Gaines.

“You need to meet new people,” Fresu said. “The only one I knew from before was (fellow Italian) Umberto Rispoli. All the rest I needed to meet them and to know them once you’re here. To be honest, they are all nice guys. I felt comfortable straight away since the beginning. It’s nice to meet people like this. It makes you feel better. At the moment, I am here and I am enjoying it here. We’ll see what the future holds.”

Follow Art Wilson on Twitter @Sham73

Special counsel Jack Smith proposed a Jan. 2 trial date on Thursday in his prosecution of former President Trump on four felony charges related to Trump’s alleged efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election.

Smith said his team will need four to six weeks to present its case at trial, according to a federal court filing. Trump has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights and obstruction of or attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. He pleaded not guilty Aug. 3.

“A January 2 trial date would vindicate the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial — an interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens’ legitimate votes,” Smith said in the motion.

Trump’s legal team has until Aug. 17 to file its own brief with a proposed trial date and estimated trial length. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has indicated she plans to set the trial date during an Aug. 28 hearing.

Smith said in his filing that a speedy trial should be possible because of the public nature of the investigation and the televised investigation conducted by a U.S. House select committee last year.

“The defendant has a greater and more detailed understanding of the evidence supporting the charges against him at the outset of this criminal case than most defendants, and is ably advised by multiple attorneys, including some who have represented him in this matter for the last year,” Smith said in the filing.

Trump’s lawyers have pressed for the Justice Department to provide them with more information about the scope of evidence it will hand over as part of the discovery process.

Smith’s team has said it is prepared to provide the defense with the evidence as soon as both sides agree on a protective order outlining what information can be made public before the trial and who may access the evidence.

The issue could be resolved as soon as Friday morning. Chutkan has ordered prosecutors and Trump’s defense team to appear before her after they were unable to reach a consensus.

Orange County authorities are searching for a driver who struck a teenager and fled during an illegal street takeover in Tustin.

Police responded to reports of street racing on Tustin Ranch Road and an “intersection takeover” at Park and Warner avenues about 11:40 p.m. Friday.

The teenager, a spectator, suffered several broken bones after being struck by a dark sedan doing burnouts and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said.

KTLA-TV Channel 5 obtained cellphone video shot by the unidentified teen just before being struck. The video shows several people crowding the intersection as two vehicles do spinouts.

When officers arrived, they found about 300 cars parked on the roadway and doing burnouts and doughnuts in the intersection as spectators lit fireworks and shined laser pointers, officials said. Police towed 51 vehicles and impounded 18 cars for 30 days. Twenty citations were issued for various vehicle code violations, police said.

Anyone with more information is asked to call Tustin police at (714) 573-3218.

Major Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency is planning to lay off 60 people amid the fallout over twin strikes by actors and writers that have roiled Hollywood.

The reductions are expected to happen across multiple departments and will begin next week, said a person familiar with the cuts who was not authorized to comment.

While the strikes contributed to the decision, CAA had been examining staffing levels prior to the walkouts, the source said.

The Century City company, which has more than 3,000 employees, declined to comment.

The layoffs are the latest sign of downsizing in the agency business, which has been hit hard by the work stoppages, which have dried up the commissions agents collect from their clients.

Even before the writers’ and actors’ strikes, agencies were looking to rebound from business losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a fight with the Writers Guild of America over packaging fees and sweeping changes in the television business brought on by streaming.

Some representation firms have already shed positions this year. In February, United Talent Agency laid off some of its workforce. In May, Verve reduced its support staff and salaries of some agents.

Studios have also undergone rounds of layoffs as they face pressure from investors to improve the finances of their streaming businesses. Walt Disney Co. cut 7,000 jobs this year and Warner Bros. Discovery last year made significant cuts.

In recent years, major talent agencies have worked to diversify their business, delving into other areas of representation such as sports and influencers. Endeavor, the parent company of Hollywood talent agency WME, has invested in other types of companies including mixed martial arts promotion company UFC and live events.

In a Tuesday earnings call with investors, Endeavor’s chief financial officer estimated the strikes will cost the company’ about $25 million in revenue each month, and Chief Executive Ari Emanuel estimated that the strike will take months to resolve, not days.

“Time and again, our industry has navigated change and now is no exception, as we adjust to new distribution models and technologies,” Emanuel said. “There are real issues to work through and we continue to stand with our clients, advocate on their behalf and push for a resolution that protects their creative and commercial interests.”

Last year, CAA significantly beefed up its staff to a total of 3,200 employees after it bought ICM Partners in a deal valued at $750 million.

One of CAA’s major investors is private equity firm TPG. In 2014, TPG increased its ownership stake in CAA to 53%, up from 35% in 2010.

CAA has been in talks to sell a majority stake of its business to French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault. A deal, first reported on by Bloomberg, could close in the coming weeks.

For many local businesses tied to the entertainment industry, the dual strikes — the WGA have been on strike since early May and actors joined it on picket lines last month — are another challenge after production shutdowns during the early days of the pandemic due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Major agencies including CAA, United Talent Agency, WME and other entertainment businesses laid off employees, cut salaries or held furloughs to reduce costs during that time.

 (Photo by Marty O’Neill on Unsplash)

California can be a fun and exciting place to live, but Orange County is particularly expensive. In fact, it is one of the hardest places to save money, so if you are financially struggling, you might be looking for ways to save. Still, it can be a great place to live if you understand budgeting and aren’t afraid of making some adjustments.

Start Building Credit

You need credit for many things, whether it’s getting a car loan, buying a house, or going to school, and in Orange County where things tend to be so much more expensive, you might find it is even more necessary to be able to borrow money for big purchases. Being without a credit score, or credit invisible, means you won’t be able to get the cash you need for these purchases, and if you can get anything, it will not be at a good rate. If you do not have a very long credit history, this is a great time to start actively building your credit.

Save Money When Shopping

Knowing where to shop and how to do it will relieve the strain on your finances. Even groceries can be expensive, and it might be stressful or time-consuming to shop around for deals at different stores. Consider visiting your local farmers markets instead of going to the grocery store. Because of Southern California’s warm weather year-round, you will often be able to find locally grown produce throughout the year. Farmers markets often have better prices than grocery stores, and you will find produce tends to be cheaper than name brands sold at grocery stores. If you arrive near closing time, you may find discounts on the produce because it will have been sitting out all day, and the sellers will not want to take a lot of leftovers home with them. 

You can save money on home goods, clothing, and other retail goods too. Consider shopping at your local thrift shops instead of going to larger retailers. It might take longer to find something you are looking for, but it can be very rewarding when you do find a nice piece at a fraction of the cost of a retail store. Look on Orange County’s Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace listings to find deals on nice items as well. Sometimes people sell their clothing or home goods to make a little extra cash to cover the high costs of living. If you have a friend with a truck, you can get it delivered to your home for free after you purchase it.

Eat at Food Trucks

You may find yourself craving something when you are out and do not feel like cooking it yourself. While restaurants are pricy in Orange County, you may be able to purchase it from a food truck instead. There are many popular taco trucks and even cottage food entrepreneurs who have emerged on the scene because of how popular they are in the area. You can even find trucks that specialize by diet, such a vegan and gluten-free. 

Rent Out Your Space

Housing in the Orange County area is significantly higher than the rest of the country, and it is likely going to be where most of your living expenses go each month. You may need to wait a little longer than the average American before buying a home, and it is best to wait to do so until you have enough resources to do so. It is generally recommended to be able to put down at least 20 percent of the home’s price as a down payment and keep your total housing costs at less than 35 percent of your total after-tax income. You can save money on housing and hopefully get into your own home sooner by getting roommates to split the cost of housing. If you are looking to move, you could move into someone else’s space they are looking to rent out.

Get Outdoors 

Southern California is known for its excellent weather, and the sun shines much of the time. The beach is also nearby, and even if you don’t like going in the ocean or laying out in the sun, you could still enjoy some time along the boardwalk. With beautiful weather much of the year, there are plenty of free forms of entertainment, including the mountains outside the metroplex. If you wanted to, you could go skiing in the morning and swimming in the ocean on the same day. Exercise comes in many forms, and with so much to do outside, you can likely find ways of getting some exercise in without hitting the gym. From hiking to swimming to mountain biking, the opportunities abound. Consider canceling your gym membership if you have one and try getting outdoors more. Going outside also has more benefits than staying indoors all the time, especially if you get out of the pollution of the city and into the fresher air outside city limits.

Don’t Use Your Vehicle Too Much

Depending on where you live in Orange County, you might be able to get around without having a car. However, it’s more likely that having one will be easier than always relying on public transportation. Having your own vehicle means getting around the city and commuting into work may be faster. On the other hand, you may be happy to get rid of your car payment and just pay for ride sharing services. You do not have to use your vehicle all the time if you decide having one is still more beneficial. If you are going out for a recreational activity that does not require you to be there by a certain time, the bus might be just fine. In many parts of the area, it is hard to find parking at a reasonable price because there are so many other cars out. As with other large metro areas, you may not even know where you should or should not park during that time of the day. Taking public transportation can help you avoid valet costs and parking fines.

Manny Gonzalez knows what it’s like to be dog-tired.

As a dialysis technician at Fresenius Kidney Care Juniper Fontana, his workdays are long, often overlapping into the next shift before he has time to go home and get some much needed rest.

“I came in at 3 a.m. Monday and worked until 7 p.m.,” the 56-year-old Fontana resident said. “I had to come back at 12:45 that same night, and I worked another 13 hours.”

That chaotic kind of schedule speaks to the severe understaffing that has plagued the Fontana facility at 10557 Juniper Ave. and 19 others owned by Fresnius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare.

The situation prompted workers to stage protests this week at several of the companies’ California dialysis centers.

“We used to have a one-to-three caregiver/patient ratio, but over the years it’s become one-to-eight, and if someone calls out sick it becomes one-to-12,” Gonzalez said. “It happens a lot.”

The latest protest was held Thursday, Aug. 10 at the Fresenius Kidney Care University Dialysis Center of Orange, as workers displayed a banner reading, “Fresenius patients need more staff.”

Another rally was held Wednesday at the Fontana location, with additional protests this week at dialysis centers in San Diego, San Jose, Folsom and Vallejo, among other locations.

The centers’ 650 dialysis caregivers — including registered nurses, patient care technicians, certified clinical hemodialysis technicians, dietitians, social workers and more — recently unionized with SEIU-UHW and are looking to negotiate their first labor contract.

But they’re off to a bumpy start.

“Our first session was scheduled for late May,” Gonzalez said. “This was agreed upon by both sides. But management failed to show up, and some of the employees had taken off work to be there.”

Representatives with Fresenius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare could not be reached for comment.

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, offered his support to the caregivers in a July 21 letter sent to executives with Fresenius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare.

“Across the industry, I understand that dialysis clinic workers continue to struggle with low wages, inadequate training and chronically low staffing levels,” he said. “These working conditions often lead to high turnover as workers leave the industry because of burnout or transfer to another healthcare sector where pay is higher.”

Garcia is urging companies across the industry to stand with their employees and avoid coercive behavior towards workers engaging in protected union activities.

“It is my belief that this is best provided by skilled workers who enjoy good wages, benefits, and the protections afforded by a union of their choice,” he said.

Gonzalez said patient care suffers when caregivers are overworked. But his commitment to the job hasn’t dimmed.

“What keeps us going is our patients,” he said. “We can’t let them down. They depend on us.”

Protests, walkouts and strikes have erupted throughout Southern California’s healthcare community in recent months as employees call for increased staffing.

Complaints of understaffing have cropped up at Prime Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital, Kaiser facilities throughout Southern California, West Anaheim Medical Center, and several LA County nursing homes, among other medical centers.

Manny Gonzalez knows what it’s like to be dog-tired.

As a dialysis technician at Fresenius Kidney Care Juniper Fontana, his workdays are long, often overlapping into the next shift before he has time to go home and get some much needed rest.

“I came in at 3 a.m. Monday and worked until 7 p.m.,” the 56-year-old Fontana resident said. “I had to come back at 12:45 that same night, and I worked another 13 hours.”

That chaotic kind of schedule speaks to the severe understaffing that has plagued the Fontana facility at 10557 Juniper Ave. and 19 others owned by Fresnius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare.

The situation prompted workers to stage protests this week at several of the companies’ California dialysis centers.

“We used to have a one-to-three caregiver/patient ratio, but over the years it’s become one-to-eight, and if someone calls out sick it becomes one-to-12,” Gonzalez said. “It happens a lot.”

The latest protest was held Thursday, Aug. 10 at the Fresenius Kidney Care University Dialysis Center of Orange, as workers displayed a banner reading, “Fresenius patients need more staff.”

Another rally was held Wednesday at the Fontana location, with additional protests this week at dialysis centers in San Diego, San Jose, Folsom and Vallejo, among other locations.

The centers’ 650 dialysis caregivers — including registered nurses, patient care technicians, certified clinical hemodialysis technicians, dietitians, social workers and more — recently unionized with SEIU-UHW and are looking to negotiate their first labor contract.

But they’re off to a bumpy start.

“Our first session was scheduled for late May,” Gonzalez said. “This was agreed upon by both sides. But management failed to show up, and some of the employees had taken off work to be there.”

Representatives with Fresenius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare could not be reached for comment.

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, offered his support to the caregivers in a July 21 letter sent to executives with Fresenius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare.

“Across the industry, I understand that dialysis clinic workers continue to struggle with low wages, inadequate training and chronically low staffing levels,” he said. “These working conditions often lead to high turnover as workers leave the industry because of burnout or transfer to another healthcare sector where pay is higher.”

Garcia is urging companies across the industry to stand with their employees and avoid coercive behavior towards workers engaging in protected union activities.

“It is my belief that this is best provided by skilled workers who enjoy good wages, benefits, and the protections afforded by a union of their choice,” he said.

Gonzalez said patient care suffers when caregivers are overworked. But his commitment to the job hasn’t dimmed.

“What keeps us going is our patients,” he said. “We can’t let them down. They depend on us.”

Protests, walkouts and strikes have erupted throughout Southern California’s healthcare community in recent months as employees call for increased staffing.

Complaints of understaffing have cropped up at Prime Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital, Kaiser facilities throughout Southern California, West Anaheim Medical Center, and several LA County nursing homes, among other medical centers.

Wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed at least 36 people, displaced thousands of residents and destroyed hundreds of structures, including homes, businesses and a school, prompting President Biden to declare a “major disaster.”

Many people are wondering how they can help, and Hawaii Atty. Gen. Anne Lopez has warned the public to exercise caution about where to send their money.

“We are already seeing various fundraising efforts being promoted on social media platforms and online,” Lopez said in a news release. “In moments of crisis, we all must be extra vigilant against bad actors who try to take advantage of people’s goodwill.”

Charities that solicit donations in Hawaii must be registered with the Department of the Attorney General, which can be verified online. Residents can also use the IRS Tax Exemption Organization Search, Charity Navigator and DCCA Business Search to verify a charity.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has also directed donors to give money to the Hawaii Community Foundation.

Here are other ways you can help:

Drug charges were dropped against a Buena Park man in a criminal case that hinged on five plastic bags of methamphetamine that were allegedly found in his motel room — but that defense attorneys contend were later planted by deputies as evidence in his case.

Prosecutors with the Orange County district attorney’s office dropped the charges Thursday, court records show, after defense attorneys accused deputies of moving the drug evidence into the man’s criminal file from another unrelated one.

Defense attorneys say the case highlights troubling ongoing issues in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and its handling of evidence.

“We caught [deputies] moving evidence,” said Tammy Nguyen, the public defender representing Ace Kuumeaaloha Kelley, the defendant in the case. “They then tried to cover it up. The D.A.’s office had to dismiss the case.”

Kelley was facing two charges of possession of a controlled substance, but attorneys in the county public defender’s office said evidence suggested the 17 grams of methamphetamine allegedly found in his motel room were instead moved into his case file two weeks after deputies searched the room.

The drugs, defense attorneys argue, were found in another room in the motel that had been searched in an unrelated investigation the same day.

Officials with the Orange County district attorney’s office did not respond to inquiries as to why the case was dropped, but officials with the public defender’s office said records showing evidence was moved and mishandled had left prosecutors little choice but to dismiss the case.

The case, defense attorneys said, highlights a series of problems around evidence mishandling by Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials, including a recently promoted investigator who has faced multiple allegations, including that he has mishandled evidence, lied in reports and illegally listened in on private phone calls between a county inmate and his attorney.

Defense lawyers allege the investigator, Sgt. Matthew LeFlore, and another official also tried to cover up evidence that the drugs had been moved from one case file to another.

On Thursday, prosecutors dismissed the charges against defendant Kelley.

The drug case centered around the bags of methamphetamine that were allegedly found in a Buena Park motel room during an investigation in 2020.

According to court records, deputies searched two rooms in one motel on Oct. 19, 2020, in two unrelated investigations. In a report dated Oct. 20, 2020, LeFlore wrote that he’d collected the drugs from Kelley’s room and booked them into evidence.

But Kelley’s attorneys say that documents released by the Orange County Crime Lab suggested that at the request of the Sheriff’s Department, the evidence was moved from a different file into Kelley’s two weeks after the motel search. It wasn’t clear from the documents who directed that the evidence be moved; only that it was someone in the Sheriff’s Department.

Defense attorneys allege that Sgt. Arthur Tiscareno then “manipulated” records that showed when the evidence was booked in Kelley’s case, making it appear that the methamphetamine had been booked on Oct. 19.

Tiscareno’s report allegedly noted that he was the one to collect and book the evidence, directly contradicting LeFlore’s report.

In court filings, defense attorneys alleged that LeFlore and other officers had “conspired to hide from the defendant the truth about the movement of evidence into this case.”

“This is such a relief for Mr. Kelley, but what about the other defendants out there who have had the same thing happen to them,” Nguyen said to The Times. “What’s really outrageous is that these officers just go back to their jobs like nothing happened.”

In LeFlore’s case, he was promoted to sergeant in January.

Scott Sanders of the public defender’s office has raised multiple concerns about evidence mishandling by officials at the Sheriff’s Department since 2019, prompting audits and criminal filings against deputies.

LeFlore was tasked in 2018 with probing instances of evidence mishandling in the department. Before being assigned that investigation, he was himself referred by the department for a criminal investigation over allegations that he had improperly booked evidence. LeFlore has also been accused of illegally listening in on phone calls between an inmate and his attorney in 2017.

Sheriff’s officials referred questions about charges against Kelley being dropped to the Orange County district attorney’s office, saying the decision to do so was at their discretion.

Sanders said other cases involving LeFlore had been flagged by defense attorneys as having troubling similarities to Kelley’s case.

In another case Sanders is handling, Brittany Faith Shahbakhti is facing multiple felony charges, including possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, possession of narcotics for sale, and possession of materials to make counterfeit cards. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Like in Kelley’s case, Sanders said, there are discrepancies in the reports detailing how evidence was collected and by whom.

According to Sanders, LeFlore wrote in his report that he, Tiscareno and other officers searched two rooms of the same hotel. LeFlore and Tiscareno, according to the report, collected the items from the room where Shahbakhti was.

But the sheriff’s Remedy System, which logs who handles evidence, lists another officer as having collected and booked nearly all of it.

In court records, Shahbakhti contended that she never had the items that were allegedly seized, and attorneys argue that “there is insufficient reliability that the items were ever seized.”

Defense attorneys requested LeFlore’s personnel records in the case. At a hearing Friday, Sanders said county counsel disclosed that LeFlore was found to have been in violation of department policy on four occasions. It was unclear what those policies were, and documents in those cases have been purged by the Sheriff’s Department.

At Friday’s hearing, Sanders said officials had found three pages relevant to LeFlore’s conduct. The judge in the case was reviewing the material.

Sanders said county counsel also disclosed that LeFlore was currently under investigation. Defense attorneys have raised concerns over when the materials were purged, and whether they were destroyed before or after the investigation into LeFlore was launched.

County counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department would not confirm whether LeFlore was under investigation by the department, citing the California Peace Officer Bill of Rights.

LeFlore, a spokeperson said, remains on active duty.

“You should not be purging materials after an internal investigation has been conducted,” said Sanders, who has also criticized the department’s policy to purge personnel records every five years.

“The only reason you purge these materials,” he said, “is because you want defendants to have less evidence to cross-examine police officers.”

If you thought you could no longer be shocked by the lavish gifts conservative billionaires have reportedly bestowed on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Thursday’s remarkable investigative report from ProPublica might surprise you. It reveals even more of the depth of Thomas’ corruption.

The report exposes Thomas’ pattern of secretly accepting private flights, yacht trips and other luxuries from a cadre of super-wealthy conservative donors over three decades in violation of legal and ethical standards. None of these donors knew Thomas before he joined the court.

These undisclosed gifts represent intolerable corruption within the highest court in the land.

ProPublica reported that these wealthy benefactors have treated the justice to at least 38 vacations, including a previously unknown yacht trip around the Bahamas, 26 flights on private jets, helicopter rides, box seats at sporting events and stays at luxury resorts.

Thomas’ misuse of his lofty position to enrich himself and live a life of luxury is just the kind of thing that has eroded the public’s confidence in a crucial institution. The Supreme Court’s perceived legitimacy has dropped to an all-time low.

Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose these gifts, according to ethics experts. They also raise the possibility of conflicts of interest and improper influence. As the ProPublica writers point out, Thomas’ billionaire donors “work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.”

More fundamentally, corruption can spring from an official’s conscious or unconscious sense of debt to those who treat him favorably and a tendency to share their worldview. The recipient of such extravagant gifts can hardly help but feel pressure to conform his beliefs to the expectations of the people footing the bill for his luxury flights, yachts and lodging. It’s not unreasonable to question whether Thomas has been guided by the good of our country or is unable to abandon the ideological preferences of his wealthy allies — particularly at the risk of losing a lifestyle to which he and his wife have become accustomed.

And yet even in light of these shameful ethical lapses, we need the Supreme Court, and we need it to be effective and respected. It has been a last line of defense for individual rights, with a history of checking elected officials who would enhance their own power by diminishing ours.

Making the Supreme Court accountable to ethical rules is the road to restoring its credibility. The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency (SCERT) Act, which focuses on standards for recusal from cases by the justices, is a critical and constitutionally appropriate step toward that goal.

Another would be an investigation of Thomas’ apparent ethical violations by the Department of Justice or Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., as one of us has previously urged.

Like other judges and indeed most Americans in any profession, the justices must be subject to an enforceable code of conduct. The Supreme Court clearly needs a reminder that although judges interpret the law, they are not above it. Americans can and should remind them of that in a variety of ways.

Citizens can call or write to their congressional representatives and urge them to act on legislation to hold the court accountable. Lawyers can speak out through groups such as the American Bar Assn., which this week announced a Task Force on Democracy led by esteemed former federal appellate Judge J. Michael Luttig.

Every one of us can make it clear that this type of corruption of the court is unacceptable. Justice Thomas, sadly, will leave a legacy of failure to abide by ethical and legal standards. It’s a legacy Americans must resoundingly reject.

Noah Bookbinder is the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and a former federal prosecutor. Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor who is of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy.