Latest news with #TimesOC
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Daily Pilot/TimesOC writers win several Orange County Press Club awards
Daily Pilot and TimesOC writers won several awards at the Orange County Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards gala held Wednesday night at Anaheim Hills Golf Club to honor the work county journalists did throughout 2024. Daily Pilot writer Sara Cardine won first place in the Best Public Affairs Story category for her look at an apartment complex on the west side of Costa Mesa that was due to be demolished after years of housing low-income tenants. 'I was thrilled to see my story on a topic local to the city of Costa Mesa considered alongside the coverage of wider reaching issues, handled by seasoned reporters who bring every resource to bear in telling important stories,' Cardine said. 'It's heartening to see this level of attention being paid to what's happening in Orange County.' Cardine also earned third place in the Best Investigative Story or Series category, after examining how the Rancho Santiago Community College District found $8 million of its own money that had been quietly held back by a third-party insurance vendor. That detailed look was part of a project she has been working on for more than two years. Gabriel San Román, who writes for TimesOC, earned a second-place award in Best Environmental News with his story on San Clemente's eroding beaches. He also earned a honorable mention nod in Best Beat Reporting for stories on a Disney labor dispute. Daily Pilot reporter Andrew Turner earned third place in Best Sports Story for his game story on Edison football winning its first state championship, capturing the CIF State Division 1-A title on a late touchdown pass from Sam Thomson to Jake Minter. Turner also earned honorable mention in Best Environmental News, as he wrote about a program in which Laguna Beach used grazing goats as part of its mitigation effort against wildfires. Sarah Mosqueda, who writes primarily for TimesOC, was working for the Los Angeles Times when she wrote about 10 of the best Caesar salads in Los Angeles. That article earned second place in the Best Round-Up or Best Of category. 'I'm incredibly proud of our team,' said Executive Editor Carol Cormaci. 'Their passion for storytelling, commitment to accuracy and deep sense of purpose come through in every article they write. The O.C. Press Club awards are a wonderful recognition of their work.' A full list of award winners is available on the organization's website.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Santa Ana Unified claims records of text allegation a teacher showed students a lewd photo don't exist
Two Santa Ana Unified School District employees traded text messages on Sept. 17, 2023 about a controversy surrounding new ethnic studies courses at the district when, in passing, one those employees mentioned a serious allegation against a teacher. 'I've been warning [redacted] about him,' the employee texted. 'She even knows he showed a d--k pic to a room full of middle schoolers on accident cause he wasn't teaching.' The brief exchange appeared in batch of evidence the district turned over to attorneys for Jewish advocacy groups during a lawsuit that alleged district officials developed 'antisemitic' ethnic studies courses in secret. Supt. Jerry Almendarez, who is set to retire on July 31, did not respond to a TimesOC request for comment about whether the alleged lewd photo incident happened, led to an investigation, what the outcome of a probe was or if the teacher remains employed by the district, as implied by the text message exchange. Not subject to a protective court order at the time, attorneys involved in the lawsuit over the ethnic studies courses voluntarily 'redacted the names and personally identifiable information of SAUSD employees' anyway before filing all documents obtained as evidence. In December 2023, the copious records were refiled without redaction at a judge's request, but under seal, as the district wished 'to keep confidential the names of individuals.' TimesOC sent the district a request for the unredacted records on Sept. 6, 2024, asking for text messages concerning ethnic studies from September 2023 alone. Months passed without any official follow up from the district, save for a same day request to refine search terms for the information technology department. A district spokesman claimed in a phone conversation that an IT department swamped with records requests was to blame for the delay but at no time did the district communicate a need for a 14-day extension under the California Public Records Act. The district also didn't provide a response until 152 days after TimesOC sent an email asking for text messages to be disclosed. 'Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your public records request,' wrote Wanda Cherif, an administrative secretary in the district's communications office. 'After reviewing all emails by our IT department, it was determined that we do not have any responsive records relating to your request.' When reminded that the request asked for text messages — not emails — Cherif explained that no such records existed, either. In court documents, no fewer than 88 text messages across three separate conversations appear from September 2023 alone. But the district turned none of those documents over to TimesOC and did not respond to screenshots shared of the specific Sept. 17, 2023 text message conversation about the allegation. Jerry Almendarez, set to retire as Santa Ana Unified's superintendent this summer, dodged questions about the text messages. 'If the district had the records and clearly delivered them in discovery, then they can't claim they don't have them,' said David Loy, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition. 'They would have to either turn them over, possibly redact them or claim that there's an applicable exemption.' Pending litigation would not have been grounds for exemption, as it only covers documents prepared for use in a lawsuit, not existing records that are introduced as evidence in a case. In fact, the presence of a litigation hold in the case is another reason documents should have been identified and turned over, Loy further argued. 'It just further confirms that they really should have been in possessions of these records,' he said. In February, the district settled the suit brought by the coalition of Jewish groups. A month before the settlement, TimesOC asked the district for a copy of all record requests it had received since last September to asses how inundated it may be. More than 100 days passed before the district turned over a spreadsheet in May. Not counting TimesOC's own request, the district received 20 records requests in the five months between the beginning of September and the end of January. Some inquiries — requests for proposals, a decade's worth of student suspension data, attendance data, documents between district officials and Jewish advocacy groups — were fulfilled in less than two months' time. Only four of the 20 requests in that time frame remain open; a fifth request by a Los Angeles Times reporter was fulfilled in a timely manner after January. A list of IT staff asked for and provided by the district shows 28 people employed in the department with the majority of them earning six-figure salaries. 'It's egregious,' Loy said. 'What was originally asked for was a pretty defined request for a limited set of records in a limited time frame.'
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Turbulent times bring out O.C. protesters while sending others into hiding
Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 18. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events from around the county. Perhaps in part bolstered by the knowledge there were plenty of like-minded people willing to join them, legions of Orange County residents turned out Saturday afternoon to take part in the nationwide 'No Kings' protest, a coordinated act of defiance timed to coincide with the day the President Trump-ordered military parade was taking place in Washington, D.C. to mark the Army's 250th anniversary and his 79th birthday. Daily Pilot reporter Andrew Turner, the only staffer working Saturday, was dispatched to cover the protest in Laguna Beach. He seemed a little taken aback by the magnitude of the effort when he was greeted by throngs packed along the South Coast Highway sidewalk in the heart of downtown. 'This is no small gathering,' was the understated text he sent me on his arrival, as if he'd expected maybe 50-60 souls demonstrating. Instead, there were more than 2,000 protesters armed with signs expressing their displeasure with the current administration. Similarly, our contributing freelance writer/photographer Susan Hoffman, a Newport Beach resident, was wondering to herself how she could possibly provide us with an estimated crowd size she encountered when she ventured out to Coast Highway and Jamboree Road on our behalf. 'There were way too many to count,' she told me later. Both described the local demonstrations as peaceful, consistent with media reports from around the nation. Susan's text to me Saturday afternoon, just after she sent Andrew her contribution to fold into this account of the coordinated proves that he was writing for us: 'I have to say the [Newport Beach protesters] were extremely positive, kind, very nice to talk to... the kind you want to know better.' In Huntington Beach, where the crowd was likely much larger, given the fact Surf City has more than twice the number of residents as does Newport and about seven or eight times the number of Laguna, things became a bit more competitive, shall we say, as there was a counter-protest in support of the president, The Times reported. Also, according to Huntington Beach police, a felon with active arrest warrants who was carrying a loaded handgun was taken into custody during the event. He had allegedly threatened to knock someone out in the middle of the street at about 3:30 p.m., a few blocks from the pier. The gun was discovered as they were making the arrest. The day of protest, planned more than a month ahead last week's ICE raids in Los Angeles and Orange counties, may have drawn more people than it otherwise might have, those who were disturbed by the pace of the actions and reports of how they were carried out, the federalization of the National Guard and the decision to bring out a show of even more force in the form of Marines. Indeed, according to the photos we saw, plenty of the protest signs carried references to all of the above. We've been keeping an eye on ICE activity in Orange County. One incident, which also happened to be reported by Andrew Turner, took place just over a week ago at a car wash in Fountain Valley. According to the manager there, without showing a warrant or a list of people they were hunting for, uniformed individuals, their faces covered, just walked in at 9:30 a.m. on a Monday, rustled up seven of the nine workers on site and hauled them off. 'They don't ask any questions,' the car wash manager said. 'They only grab, grab, grab the guys, take them to the van. They don't give you a chance to speak. They don't have a chance to say, 'Oh, let me see [if] I got my papers.' … They only grab the guys and take them. No questions. It's not fair.' Also last week, rumors spread that ICE agents were questioning workers and guests at Disneyland. Reporter Gabriel San Román looked into that for this story that appeared in Sunday's Daily Pilot/TimesOC. Officials with the amusement park and the city discounted those rumors. However, he reported, 'the city acknowledged cellphone videos of an SUV pursuing a man two miles down the street [from Disneyland] at Pearson Park the following morning was credible evidence of federal immigration enforcement.' Pearson Park, the reporter noted, is in a Latino neighborhood, which suggests racial profiling. He interviewed Anaheim Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava, who told him she 'saw the Pearson Park video on Instagram, got dressed and headed out to vet the claim. She spoke to a young Latino who recounted how federal agents dressed in black with their faces covered approached him and another man at the park.' 'They asked him for identification,' Rubalcava told San Román. 'When he told them he was born in the U.S., they told him 'prove it.'' Lucky for him, he had his Social Security card on him. San Román reports that Orange County Rapid Response Network's hotline has been receiving tips of ICE activities. 'Sandra De Anda, the group's network coordinator, emphasizes a 'salute' method for its team of volunteer ICE watchers to assess the 'size, action, location, uniform, time and equipment' details of a raid in confirming it,' according to his report. The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that immigrant-owned Mexican supermarket chains and food merchants, noticing customers' fears of being targeted by ICE agents, are standing up for them. That includes the popular Northgate, a company that had its very beginnings in Anaheim in 1980, as well as Vallarta Supermarkets. 'We're really afraid of what's happening, and just being able to at least give [customers] a smile,' Lizette Gomez, Vallarta's director of marketing, told the Times reporter about the chain's efforts to qualm fears. 'As long as we're there to at least give them some sort of hope — that it's really dark right now, but it'll hopefully be good at the end.' • The Zinn Education Project's #TeachTruth campaign made its way to the Laguna Beach farmers market on June 7 (the fifth annual organized Teach Truth Day of Action), according to this article by my colleague Andrew Turner. To explain the reason behind the campaign, the Project's website says, '...across the country, legislatures, the president, and corporate power are pushing laws and policies to criminalize teaching honestly about U.S. history and to restrict students' ability to ask questions and engage in critical thinking.' To counter such actions, people are asked to set up booths at public spaces to educate others 'about the chilling effect of these laws and how they threaten any chance of an informed and engaged democracy.' In Laguna, the reporter spoke to Heather Hanson, a European history teacher at Laguna Beach High whose informational table also offered farmers market patrons a look at some of the books that have been banned, including George Orwell's 'Animal Farm,' J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye,' and Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse-Five.' • Speaking of reading, library-related Measures A and B on the June 10 ballot put before Huntington Beach voters both passed. People in favor of bringing to a halt the City Council's intentions to set up a 21-member review board to approve children's books for the public library, Measure A, prevailed on a vote of 34,758 to 24,760. The second measure, which would require both the Huntington Beach City Council and a majority of Surf City voters to approve any outsourcing of library operations, won, 36,002 to 23,466. • Also included in the June 10 election was the race to fill a seat on the Newport-Mesa Unified school board that pitted the woman who had been appointed to the board on a 4-2 vote in January, Kirstin Walsh, against Andrea McElroy, whose supporters were behind a petition drive that overturned Walsh's appointment and forced an election. McElroy's GOP-backed campaign was successful; according to the county registrar she garnered 2,815 of the votes to Walsh's tally of 2,423. Anyone interested in watching YouTube video of the January meeting when McElroy, Walsh and one other candidate were interviewed can find it here. • The countdown has begun for this year's Orange County Fair, which gets underway July 18. Just in time for the big event, the OC Fair & Event Center's board has named a successor to the retiring Michele Richards, who served as CEO. James Canfield, who was most recently the general manager of an Alabama convention complex, will step into Richards' shoes on July 1. Canfield has held similar roles in Palm Springs, Pasadena and Long Beach. • Disbarred Newport Beach attorney Michael Avenatti, who gained fame representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her litigation against President Donald Trump, was sentenced Thursday to 95 months in federal prison for stealing millions of dollars from his former clients. It was a re-sentencing for Avenatti, who in 2022 been given 14 years, a ruling that was overturned by an appellate court. Avenatti was seeking 78 months, with 39 of those months having already been served. • More than 100 fire personnel battled a blaze on the 3500 block of Cadillac Avenue in Costa Mesa that was reported at 5:15 p.m. Sunday and left a structure that houses three businesses so heavily damaged it was red-tagged to prevent people from entering it. • After someone reported a leaf blower had been stolen from a gardener's truck, Huntington Beach police chased down and arrested a wanted felon, a 27-year-old Florida man, and his accomplice in the alleged theft on Friday. The search forced a shelter-in-place order at Dwyer Middle and Smith Elementary schools. • Carl and Alice Obert, 98 and 96-years-old, respectively, celebrated a remarkable 77 years of marriage earlier this month with cupcakes and Champagne. According to the Daily Pilot story about this milestone event in their lives, experts estimate that only about 1,000 couples in the United States at any given time have been married 75 years or longer. The Oberts, wed on June 5, 1948, still live in the Huntington Beach home they purchased in 1963. • The eclectic L.A.-based band Ozomatli, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with a '30 Revolutions' tour, will be playing a free concert at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley on Thursday at 6 p.m. to kick off the OC Parks Summer Concert Series. The band will return to Orange County on Aug. 3 for an OC Fair show at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, along with X and Los Lobos. • Lions Park and Luke Davis Field in Costa Mesa will again be the venue for the 79th annual Fish Fry and Carnival put on by the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club that starts the evening of Friday, June 27 and runs through Sunday, June 29. Guests can enjoy fish and chip dinners, carnival rides and games, blues and rock bands, a beer and wine garden, vendor booths and more. Admission is free; fish dinners are $15. Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Until next Wednesday,Carol We appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
Los Angeles Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Cypress withholds records from TimesOC related to city manager allegations
In the aftermath of 'unlawful acts of misconduct' allegations made against Cypress City Manager Peter Grant, the city is refusing to turn over related records to TimesOC. Since former Public Works Director Doug Dancs first made the accusation while calling for Grant's firing during the April 28 Cypress City Council meeting, concerned residents and council members have pushed for more transparency. On May 15, TimesOC filed a public records request seeking documents detailing allegations of misconduct or harassment involving Grant and Dancs. The request also asked for invoices from the Los Angeles-based Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore firm, as an attorney with the firm signed off on Dancs' $183,000 separation agreement. The city's payment register also shows nearly $105,000 in fees paid to the firm for legal services dating back to May 2024. It remains unclear if the payments were related to any human resources issue involving Dancs and Grant. Either way, Cypress cited attorney-client privilege first and foremost in withholding all responsive records — including invoices — from disclosure. 'Any invoices or related records maintained by the city regarding [the firm's] advice regarding any workplace investigations are exempt from disclosure,' City Clerk Alisha Farnell wrote in an emailed response to TimesOC's public records request. 'These invoices contain descriptions of confidential legal services and matters, and their disclosure would reveal privileged attorney-client communications and legal strategy.' David Loy, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, said that Cypress' exemptions raised questions on both sides. He pointed to a case in Petaluma were an appellate court eventually ruled that an investigative report into a woman firefighter's claims of sexual harassment and discrimination by an outside firm was privileged. 'On the right facts, privilege can potentially apply to outside counsel doing investigation, depending on the situation,' Loy said. 'It's very fact-sensitive.' With regard to withheld invoices, Loy turned to a California Supreme Court ruling in a case involving the ACLU's efforts to obtain invoices from Los Angeles County related to payments made to private law firms in lawsuits against its sheriff's department. 'The court ruled that invoices are not always privileged, but drew a distinction between open cases and closed cases,' Loy said. 'When a matter is active and ongoing, the court held that the invoice, as a whole, is subject to privilege — even the total amount spent. Once a case is closed, the invoices are no longer completely privileged.' Farnell claimed that the firm is providing 'ongoing advice' to Cypress. The city, she said, would be disclosing the total amount of legal billing by the firm since May 2024 in connection with any workplace investigations. TimesOC already tallied that figure through Cypress' payment register. 'With respect to invoices, the issue is not whether the law firm is on a permanent retainer, the issue is whether that particular case or matter is done,' Loy said. All parties signed Dancs' separation agreement by October. His last day of employment with Cypress was Dec. 31. The city paid him out in January. To whatever degree privilege is legally applicable to documents related to Dancs' allegations, Cypress City Council, as the client, would have the authority to waive it. In a recent high-profile case, Anaheim waived attorney-client privilege in 2023, which cleared the way for the release of a redacted anti-corruption report to its city council and the public. Cypress Mayor David Burke called a special meeting on May 19 to direct City Atty. Fred Galante to turn over any such documents to the council. The question of waiving attorney-client privilege did not appear on the agenda. With Councilmember Leo Medrano absent because he was attending a Democratic club meeting at a Cerritos IHOP instead, the council deadlocked 2-2 on the question. During the June 9 Cypress City Council meeting, a former council member, Frances Marquez, advocated for the item to be brought back for discussion at a future meeting. 'You need to hand that investigation over to the mayor,' she told Galante. 'Everybody in this community is still watching.' But for the second straight council meeting since the special meeting deadlock, no council member took any action to revive the discussion. Instead, a review of Grant's job appeared on the agenda. Galante reported during the meeting that the City Council discussed the city manager's performance evaluation and provided direction in closed session. 'No further reportable action was taken,' he said.
Los Angeles Times
11-06-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
14-year-old math whiz to graduate from UCI, his sister, 10, is close on his heels
Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 11. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events from around the county. When UC Irvine holds its various commencements exercises this Friday through Monday, one of the Anteaters collecting their bachelor's degrees will be Tycho Elling, who just turned 14 on May 31. Next, the young math whiz will be working on a doctorate at USC. My colleague Sara Cardine interviewed Tycho, his parents and one of his professors to get a picture of what motivated the youngster to zip through coursework from the time he was of kindergarten age until today. Clearly, the answer is his nearly life-long love for mathematics. His mom, Christina Elling, told Cardine she and her husband, Tim (both of them hold doctorates themselves) enrolled Tycho, their eldest child, in the online charter school Connections Academy when it appeared he was having a rough time with other kids in traditional kindergarten. He zipped through Connections courses, completing several grade levels at the speed of light. Community college beckoned when he was only 9 and had completed all the math classes available him. In 2023, when he was 12, he earned his associate's degree at Irvine Valley College as the campus' youngest graduate to date. 'That record was broken the following year when [his sister] Athena, then 11, walked the stage,' Cardine reports. 'But she wouldn't hold the title for long; Zora (10) just graduated with her associate's degree last month.' The 10-year-old, Zora, is enrolled in some summer courses to take her brother's seat in the math department at UCI in the fall, according to Cardine's report. 'I think of this kind of as the 'Tycho effect,' Christina Elling said of her children's post-secondary pursuits. 'Because Tycho had done it we felt a little more comfortable with the idea of Zora going.' At this point in the story I was pondering how soon the youngest member of the Elling household, 4-year-old Nova, would eclipse her older siblings and their passel of degrees. Cardine asked Tycho if he thought older UCI students might have felt uncomfortable doing coursework alongside someone his age. 'I just don't notice, or I try not to notice,' he said. UCI Associate Professor Asaf Ferber began teaching Tycho two years ago. 'He came to my office, this little kid,' he told Cardine. 'I asked him 'what type of math do you like' — I didn't know his background knowledge, so wanted to give him some books to read based on his natural attraction. And he looked at me with a naive face and a little smile and said, 'I love everything.'' What does Tycho hope to do once he has a PhD in hand? 'I don't know yet,' he said. 'Maybe I'll look at [postdoctoral work]. I haven't thought that far ahead yet.' You can find the complete story on Tycho and his family of high-achievers here. I really enjoyed it and hope you do, too. • Orange County politicians yesterday denounced the Trump administration's deployment of National Guard troops in support of local raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of them, Rep. Lou Correa, a Democrat who represents the 46th District, called a Tuesday morning news conference to make his views known. 'We want to tell America who Santa Ana is [and] what this immigration issue is all about,' Correa said. 'It's not us versus them. We are all part of the American fabric, part of the American community.' • In a civil trial that was moved to San Diego County to avoid potential conflicts, a jury last Thursday found Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer harassed and retaliated against a high-ranking female prosecutor in his office, the Los Angeles Times reported. The jury found the county, Spitzer and former Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Shawn Nelson, currently seated as an O.C. Superior Court judge, liable for $3 million in damages, including $1.5 million for past emotional distress. The jury also ruled Spitzer would be liable for an additional $25,000 in punitive damages. Newport Beach and Huntington Beach voters were asked to cast their ballots in Tuesday's special elections, one to fill a vacated seat on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees and the other to decide Measures A and B, both related to Huntington Beach libraries. The campaigns for both cities were rancorous, to put it mildly. Results started being released at 8 o'clock last night, past this newsletter deadline. Interested readers can find results as they are released here. • Registered nurses who work at Anaheim Regional Medical Center last week ratified their first union contract, represented by SEIU Local 121RN, TimesOC reported. The contract calls for a minimum 19% pay raise over the four years, enhanced safety measures that will free ER nurses from having to check incoming patients' belonging for weapons and drugs and better nurse-to-patient ratios. • There's a sewer pump station in San Clemente that's been endangered by an active, slow landslide for several years. Now it has breached an 8-foot retaining wall built to protect the station, raising the specter of a sewage spill. So, the City Council last week considered approving a $2.3-million emergency contract to reinforce the wall with caissons and tiebacks before the next heavy rains hit. The panel, gambling such storms would be several months away, took a conservative approach by turning down the contract on a unanimous vote and instead putting the job out to bid. Here's the link to the TimesOC story detailing their deliberations. • A rundown 164-unit townhome development in Santa Ana that one former police chief called the worst neighborhood in the city because violence, gangs and drug dealing were then commonplace, is getting some help from the nonprofit Orange County chapter of Community Associations Institute, an organization that advocates for HOAs and other community associations. The group harnessed a host of volunteers to help restore a playground full of trash and broken equipment in the center of Bishop Manor to a lively, inviting place for the children living there. • Another restoration of a recreational spot in Orange County, that of Main Beach Park in Laguna Beach, was recently completed. The $1.4-million project included new sidewalks, refreshed landscaping and upgraded furnishings, including benches, drinking fountains, lighting and trash receptacles. •Andrew Do, 62, the former O.C. supervisor who resigned as part of a plea deal stemming from a $550,000 bribery scheme was given a five-year sentence in federal prison Monday, the maximum sentence available to the judge under the plea deal. • After executing search warrants, Costa Mesa police announced Monday they had arrested Huntington Beach resident Oscar Saldivar, 19, on suspicion of murder in the case in connection with the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Monserrat Colorado on the night of June 2 at the 1500 block of Costa Mesa's Lukup Lane. Colorado was also from Huntington Beach. • In more positive public safety news, the Newport Beach City Council was on track to approve last night a contract with the police union that would provide annual 4% raises for rank-and-file sworn and unsworn officers. The raises are expected to cost the city $19.3 million over three years, the Daily Pilot reported. • Angels pitcher Kyle Hendricks earned his 100th career win when the Halos beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4at Angel Stadium. Kenley Jansen kept the ball from the Mariners' final out and handed it to Hendricks to mark the occasion. His first 97 victories were secured when he was with the Chicago Cubs. • High-profile sports agent and Newport Beach resident Scott Boras was among the honorees at the inaugural OC Sports Awards held recently at Angel Stadium, where he received the Lifetime Achievement award. According to this Daily Pilot story by Matt Szabo, the 72-year-old Boras has negotiated nearly $4 billion in contracts for his clients over the years, including the $765-million deal with the N.Y. Mets he secured for his client Juan Soto, the largest in sports history. • The Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! ride at Disneyland, which opened in 2006, is scheduled to be closed early next year to make was for an new attraction inspired by the oceans of James Cameron's sci-fi film 'Avatar,' The Times reports. • Orange County's oldest record store on South Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, whose owners, Jimmy and Edith Otto were ready to call it quits last October, has been purchased by another family and reopened. First opened in 1967, Sound Spectrum has been given a new lease on life by siblings James, Audrey and Sadie Jean Wilcox. • The Huntington Beach Queens' Rose Garden celebrated its 60th anniversary on Friday when the current Miss Huntington Beach, Nicole Allyson Vogt was there for the planting of a 'Mellow Yellow' rose bush that she selected. The ceremony was put on by the nonprofit Sand Dollars of Huntington Beach, which organizes the Miss Huntington Beach scholarship and pageant program each year. • The Hillbert Museum in Orange, founded by Newport Beach resident Mark Hilbert and his late wife, Janet, is partnering this year with the Pageant of the Masters to promote California art in the Laguna Beach pageant. An oil painting that depicts Hilbert dining at the iconic Crab Cooker with two other men (including, Bradford J. Salamon, the artist himself) has special meaning, because the museum was born from the discussions they held during their Monday night meetups at the Newport Beach eatery. Hilbert will join the cast of volunteers at the living pageant on 'Hilbert Museum Night at the Pageant' on July 9 to play himself in the 'Monday at the Crab Cooker' painting, TimesOC reports. • The national tour of the sensational production that's claimed multiple Tony awards, 'The Life of Pi,' based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, is on stage at the Segerstrom through Sunday. Read this feature story by my colleague Sarah Mosqueda to learn more about the magic of the puppetry that brings the tiger character to life. Tickets start at $44.07 and can be ordered here. • The 6th annual Taste of Japan event will take place at the STC Anaheim GardenWalk this Friday through Sunday and will feature a marketplace, live entertainment and Japanese street food. General admission is free, with special event tickets available for purchase. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the event's website. Until next Wednesday,Carol We appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
