IRVINE — If you’re keeping track of the Rams’ recent contract developments – and based on my Twitter feed that seems a likely bet – a natural reaction would be to scream: “But what about Aaron Donald?!”
Understandable given how Donald and the Rams have been talking for more than a year about a new contract that reflects his status as the best defensive player in the NFL.
Yet, they have exactly nothing to show for it.
That is, aside from an entire 2017 training camp holdout and the potential of another one this year. The Rams open camp Thursday at UC Irvine, but with Donald barreling into the last year of a rookie deal that falls embarrassingly short of paying him fairly, it seems unlikely he’ll step foot anywhere near Orange County until a new deal is secured.
And rightfully so.
No one deserves a new contract more than Donald, whose performance at defensive tackle the past four years has soared so far above his paycheck he’s easily the most underpaid player in the league. And given the money he’d stand to lose should he get hurt before signing an extension, it would be foolish of him to suit up for anything short of an actual game practice until an extension finally comes to fruition.
Nevertheless, less than 48 hours before camp officially starts, Donald and the Rams still haven’t found common ground on a new deal.
Fans are probably asking: “Um, what about Aaron Donald?” in a way that suggests the Rams are prioritizing other players at the expense of arguably their best.
Understandable.
But not practical.
In fact, the question is flawed.
It’s no longer: “What about Aaron Donald?”
It’s: “What about it, Aaron Donald?”
The Rams have demonstrated they are willing to pay at the top of a position market – as they did with Gurley to reset the running back market – or competitively by making Cooks among the highest-paid receivers in the game. It stands to reason they’d do the same for Donald, coming off a 2017 season in which he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and racked up 91 quarterback pressures in 14 games.
Given the Cooks and Gurley contracts, you’d be on the safest of grounds to deduce the Rams have offered Donald a deal that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the NFL and makes him the first non-quarterback to break the $20 million per year threshold.
For argument’s sake, let’s just say it’s $21 million per year. And in terms of guaranteed money, let’s safely presume there’s more than $70 million sitting in the middle of the table just waiting for Donald to claim.
That’s game-changing and generation-changing money that sets Donald up for the rest of his life and earns him the rightful distinction of being the highest-paid defensive player of all time.
That’s game-set-match if you’re Donald and his agents.
Or should be.
That it’s not is remarkably telling. And not in a way that reflects poorly on the Rams. They are ready and willing to do right by their star defensive tackle.
Within reason, of course.
Which brings us to the question: “What about it, Aaron Donald?”
What’s the holdup?
What could you possibly be demanding so above and beyond what the Rams are offering that common ground has been so elusive to find?
Donald and his agent, Todd France, have kept a tight lid on contract talks. As have the Rams. But there is speculation within NFL circles Donald is looking for a landmark deal.
In fact, an NFL general manager told me recently word on the street his Donald and his agent aren’t just seeking a deal that resets the defensive market. They are looking for top quarterback money, which would mean pushing that $21 million to between $25 million and $30 million per year and thrusting that $70 million to the $80 million and beyond range.
If so, that would be a reckless disruption to the Rams’ salary cap given the need to eventually pay Jared Goff, who is well on his way to becoming an elite quarterback.
On top of already paying Gurley and Cooks top dollar and eventually locking up star cornerback Marcus Peters and tackle Rob Havenstein and guard Rodger Saffold.
In a perfect, non-salary cap world, the Rams back up the Brinks Truck and pay Donald whatever he wants. But the world in which they operate consists of an unforgiving salary cap under which 53 players must fit. Ideally with fair contracts reflecting their performance.
The Rams have been ready and willing to pay Donald accordingly and historically. The contracts they gave to Cooks and Gurley back that up.
Harbor Patrol deputies are seen with a boat that sank about half a mile off the coast of Newport Beach on Sunday, July 22. Deputies rescued 13 people aboard. Orange County Sheriff’s Department)
When the rescue lines were cut, the Bonnie Mac went down fast.
But it didn’t sink until after first responders were able to get the 13 passengers off and to safety.
On Sunday afternoon, the 30-foot-long fishing boat was a half-mile south of the entrance to Newport Harbor when an alarm went off, signaling to those aboard that the Bonnie Mac was smoking and taking on water, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
It was carrying the 51-year-old owner, his 18-year-old son and friends, said Jaimee Blashaw, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department.
The father and son couldn’t find the source of the problem.
“Dad started heading back to the harbor, but the water was coming in pretty quickly,” Blashaw said. “He was trying to use the forward momentum to slow the flooding.”
The boat was purchased used by the Irvine family five months earlier, and had received maintenance work just a week before.
The father called the U.S. Coast Guard for help at 2:20 p.m., and that agency called the sheriff’s Harbor Patrol – it could get to the vessel and passengers faster.
A sheriff’s patrol boat arrived first and evacuated the boat. Two sheriff’s fireboats and a city lifeguard vessel arrived shortly thereafter. The passengers then boarded the lifeguard boat as the Harbor Patrol tried to save the Bonnie Mac.
Sign up for our breaking news email newsletter: When major local news happens, you will be the first to know. Subscribe here.
Pumps were used in an effort to clear out water from the boat, but the flooding outpaced them.
The weight of the sinking boat put so much tension on rescue lines that the Harbor Patrol vessel started to tip. The crew decided to cut the lines, and the fishing boat sank in about a minute.
It was unclear why the Bonnie Mac was taking on water.
“We respond to a significant number of rescue calls every year, but this one was somewhat unique,” sheriff’s Sgt. Isaac Felter said in a statement. “Being out of the harbor and in choppy seas presented an added challenge, but our deputies are well-trained for these kinds of situations.”
The Sunday rescue marks 41 boat rescues for the Harbor Patrol so far this year in Newport Beach. Sheriff’s authorities said that the Harbor Patrol responds to about 4,000 calls for service every year between Orange County’s three harbors. About 2,000 of those come out of the Newport Harbor area.
On Monday night, the Harbor Patrol helped pull the Bonnie Mac in from the ocean.
If you didn’t take a “selfie,” were you ever really there?
The art of the selfie is a difficult one if you don’t have access to the right angles, background or lights. The OC Fair has its visitors covered with a new exhibit, My Fair Selfie, which opened on Friday, July 20.
Anna Blaho and Camille Ring, two OC Fair staff members, posed for a photo in the ‘Gnome Folly’ exhibit, one of the 11 themed backdrops in the My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
Audrey Velazquez, 5, poses for a photo with Conrad the Unicorn in the ‘Carnival Plush Play Zone,’ one of the 11 themed backdrops in the My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
Bronwyn Velazquez, left, with her daughter, Audrey, 5, dancing with social media star Conrad the Unicorn in the ‘Carnival Plush Play Zone,’ one of the 11 themed backdrops in the My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
My Fair Selfie has staff members present at the exhibit to take photos of guests. There are 11 themed backdrops, all with their own matching themes. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
Liby Flores, center, takes a photo with her daughters, Natalie Castillo, left, and Grace Mendoza in the ‘Candy is Dandy!’ exhibit, one of the 11 themed backdrops in the My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
Around each backdrop, there is a white camera painted onto the floor. Standing at those spots are the optimal positions to take photos of yourself or of others. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
The ‘OC Fair Graffiti Wall’ is one of the first backdrops guests can see. It is directly to the left of entry into the My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
Bronwyn Velazquez, right, comically “eats” an inflatable corn dog with her daughter, Audrey, in the ‘Night Life Graffiti Wall’ exhibit, one of the 11 themed backdrops in the My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
The ‘100 percent Cotton Candy’ is one of the most popular backdrops used by guests, according to OC Fair staff. It is one of the 11 themed backdrops available at My Fair Selfie exhibit at the 2018 OC Fair. (Courtesy of Lilly Nguyen)
Opening a new fire station on East La Palma Avenue is like coming home for Anaheim Fire & Rescue Deputy Fire Chief Tim O’Hara.
He grew up nearby and in the 1980s worked his first job – box boy – at a market that once stood where the fire station is now, city spokeswoman Erin Rose said.
During a ceremony Wednesday, July 25, O’Hara helped unveil the plaque dedicating Station 5, which is Anaheim’s first new fire station in a decade.
Firefighter Greg Shiner, left, and Capt. Justin Anderson show off the massive dining table they and other firefighters built for their new station. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
James McDuffie leads the honor guard during a dedication ceremony for Anaheim’s newest fire station on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
A dedication plaque for Anaheim’s new Fire Station No. 5 is unveiled by Deputy Chief Tim O’ Hara, from left, Battalion Chief Mike Molloy and Capt. Mike Byard on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anaheim Mayor Tom Tate takes part in the dedication ceremony for Fire Station No. 5 in Anaheim on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Council member Stephen Faessel is right. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anaheim’s new Fire Station No. 5, will house one engine company with four firefighters and two emergency medical technicians. A ceremony dedicated the new bright red building on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Just north of Pioneer Park, it is about a mile and a half from the old Station 5, a 56-year-old building that will be transferred to the city’s public utilities department.
The new Station 5 was relocated – the old one was on North Kraemer Boulevard – because of how the city developed over the last half century and where the calls are coming from now, Rose said. The La Palma location will allow the fire crews to take pressure off the downtown station by answering some calls that used to go there.
Equipment housed at the station will include an engine that can respond to wildfires, a quick-response medical truck and an ambulance, but the station is big enough to fit any of the city’s fire vehicles.
City leaders also are planning next to add a fire station in the Platinum Triangle, which is seeing a building boom and is projected to have 19,000 apartments and condominiums at build out, Rose said. That station, estimated at $8.2 million, will be funded by the fees paid to the city by the developers.
For months, the social network has weathered a series of scandals — including Russian misuse of the platform to interfere in the 2016 American presidential campaign and the harvesting of its users’ data through the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica — with hardly any effect to its business. Facebook has continued to post healthy double-digit increases in revenue and profit every quarter.
But on Wednesday, it showed some of the first signs of wear and tear from the months of scrutiny.
The Silicon Valley company reported a 42 percent increase in revenue and a 31 percent jump in profits for its second quarter, compared with a year earlier. But the results, which would be robust for most companies, were accompanied by decelerating growth in sales and Facebook’s slowest growth since 2011 in the number of its users.
The numbers were compounded by comments from Facebook’s top executives. On a conference call to discuss earnings, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said profits would most likely take a further hit because the company planned to spend more on security. And Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said revenue growth would substantially decline for the rest of the year, partly because the company planned to give users more options with their privacy settings, which would let them limit the kinds of ads they saw.
The results and commentary sent Facebook’s stock tumbling more than 23 percent in after-hours trading, erasing more than $120 billion in market value in less than two hours. Zuckerberg lost at least $16.8 billion “in a blink,” Bloomberg reported.
“It should not be surprising that there was some impact from Cambridge Analytica,” said Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research. “To explain that there is a couple million people who chose not to continue using Facebook is unsurprising.”
Considering the quality of soccer derbies Zlatan Ibrahimovic had played in before arriving in MLS, his performance against LAFC probably shouldn’t have been too surprising.
Ibrahimovic, who has played in nearly all of the big European Leagues, except for Germany’s Bundesliga, has seen just about everything when his team’s rival is across the field.
“You have Inter (Milan)-(AC) Milan, Paris (Saint-Germain)-Marseille, Real Madrid-Barcelona, (Manchester) United-Liverpool and United-(Manchester) City, they were big games,” Ibrahimovic said of his past.
His performance in his MLS debut, a 4-3 come-from-behind win for the Galaxy over LAFC, has made him the focal point as the teams, still in the infancy stages of their rivalry, prepare to meet for a second time Thursday night at Banc of California Stadium (7:30 p.m.; ESPN).
In 19 minutes, Ibrahimovic scored the tying goal, a 40-yard rocket in one of his early touches of the game, and he added the winning goal on a header in stoppage time.
Welcome to Los Angeles.
Lost in the hysteria of Ibrahimovic’s debut performance is the fact his team really needed it. LAFC was on the verge of playing the Galaxy off the StubHub Center field and led 3-1 early in the second half.
“It was amazing, the stadium was full, people cheering … the result was not the best, but we did good after a while and we won the game,” Ibrahimovic said of the first matchup. “Those are the games you get triggered by. You get the adrenaline.
“This time, we play in their home stadium and I think it will be exciting. I think every game is important. We are in need of points, we’re (currently) in the playoffs. Of course, it is a little bit more special because of the derby, two teams from the same city, the buzz is around the game, and it will be exciting.”
Sign up for Home Turf and get exclusive stories every SoCal sports fan must read, sent daily. Subscribe here.
A lot has changed for the Galaxy (9-7-4, 31 points) since their first meeting with LAFC. The Galaxy enter Thursday night on a three-game winning streak, an unbeaten streak of seven games and a 6-1-3 record in its past 10, climbing up to fourth place in the Western Conference.
“It was something amazing,” Ibrahimovic said of his performance in the first meeting. “My first 20 minutes in MLS, my first 20 minutes with the Galaxy, it went like it went. I rank it very high. We will all remember it.”
Ibrahimovic has helped lead the turnaround, scoring in each of his past five games. He has scored 12 goals in 12 games this season.
“I’m focused,” he said. “The noise around the stadium, I don’t pay so much attention to it because I try to stay focused on my objective and doing what I need to do.
“People that try and disturb me, I’ve shown on many occasions that it doesn’t help.”
The Galaxy-LAFC series doesn’t have the history of the Galaxy’s rivalry with San Jose over the years, but when you’re separated by less than 15 miles, this has the makings of the best rivalry MLS could hope for.
“I think you need to feel the atmosphere in the other stadium, maybe you need to feel the hatred that exists in the other stadium and that helps pump the rivalry,” Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said. “Any time you’re looking at a rivalry game, it doesn’t matter what the points on the table are or the position in the standings, it’s a game that has its own spirit, its own life to it.
“It’s not about, ‘This puts us in this place or position (in the standings).’ It is about a game that we want to win.”
Laura Mendoza, center, is greeted by Maria Nieblas as Anna Cervantes, right, watches on. More than 250 family members gathered for a reunion Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Matteo Galvan finds a comfortable spot in a tree as more than 250 family members gather together to reflect on their lives and what the legacy of braving the challenges of coming to a new land means Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
Rocky Brown Nieblas, right, and Judy Solis share a laugh as more than 250 Nieblas family members gather for a reunion, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860.(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Family members sign in at a reunion of more than 250 on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Family members pose for a photo at a reunion of more than 250, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Cindy Nieblas, from left, Sarah Galvan, Ali Nieblas, Jackie Kennedy Nieblas, and Jesse Nieblas share a laugh while talking about family history at a reunion Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
More than 250 Nieblas family members gather together to reflect on their lives and what the legacy of braving the challenges of coming to a new land means, Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The oldest members on hand for the family gathering pose for a photo Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Mary Nieblas Brown, left, is the family genealogist. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Dan Vozenilek shows his children, Nicholas and Annika, his wife’s family album with pictures of Jose Antonio Bernardo and Andrea Nieblas, as more than 250 family members gather together Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Larry Butcher speaks to his half-sister, Mary Nieblas Brown, center, and her daughter, Rocky Brown, after meeting them seven months ago when they researched family history on Ancestry.com. More than 250 family members gathered together Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Orange. Ancestors Jesus B. Nieblas and Maria de los Angeles de la Cruz came from Mexico to Southern California around 1860. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
With all the attention on immigration, border walls and squabbles with Mexico, it sometimes gets lost that California’s Latino heritage goes back centuries.
Under old oaks and surrounded by more than 250 relatives, Mary Nieblas Brown looks around and beams at the family reunion that unfolds before her.
More than three decades in the making, this is one of the most unusual reunions ever in Southern California.
Different lineages of descendants wear color-coded T-Shirts of forest green, beige, bright blue, red, lime green. There even are color-coded notebooks detailing the highlights of each family.
But what makes this the most amazing reunion I’ve ever attended — and I’ve been involved in covering dozens over the years — is that this clan traces its origins to 1860 when a young woman and a young man from central Mexico walked more than 1,000 miles for a better life.
Six generations later, the gathering is as diverse as the earth and rocks in Irvine Regional Park where this reunion takes place.
Reunions matter, explains Brown, now 86 years old, because they offer clues into often impenetrable questions such as, “Who am I? From whence did I come?
“You are,” Brown offers, “the sum of all your parts.”
Brown looks over a crowd that includes a mix of Caucasian, Latino, Native American, African American relatives and points out their deep connections go back more than 150 years.
But for one man already into his later years, the bonds are a brand new discovery.
Yes, some family secrets are buried even deeper than the roots of ancient trees.
Early beginnings
Exactly how Maria de Los Angeles de la Cruz and Jesus B. Nieblas met remains shrouded in mystery.
Perhaps it was through friends or family. Perhaps it was during their trek to the United States. But one thing is certain, they persevered through conditions that seem insurmountable today.
Political instability and revolution delayed much railroad construction during the decade when the couple headed north. Word of mouth history in the Nieblas family agrees the couple’s journey was made entirely on foot.
While it’s a trip made by many, in those years only the brave and the hardy succeeded.
After untold months, the couple — he about 30 years old, she about 16 — made it to Southern California.
During a series of conversations under canopies of leaves and canvas on Saturday, July 21, the common refrain — and with slight head shakes — is that in those days “there was no border wall discussion.”
While Nieblas worked farms first in San Diego County and then in Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange, his common law wife raised their children.
In all, 17 children were born. But times were tough, brutal even, and only 10 survived into adulthood.
Jose Antonio Nieblas was the first to reach teenage years and on Oct. 28, 1883, documents show, he was around to see his parents officially marry under U.S. law.
At the time, the couple lived in Anaheim and had their children baptised there. Still, they chose to travel all the way to San Juan Capistrano to celebrate their vows at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Several years later — exactly how many is unknown — Nieblas heard about a river of gold in Mexico. He left to explore and vanished into history.
A headstone in an Anaheim cemetery shows his wife, Maria, died in 1912.
But their legacy lives on.
Record of service
If you press Tom Nieblas hard enough, he will acknowledge his service to this country. But you have to push this modest man pretty darn hard before he will allow he served in Germany, the Gulf War, Bosnia and Iraq.
It’s not that Tom Nieblas is shy, it’s just that he firmly believes his other relatives — both dead and alive — deserve more credit.
Sign up for The Localist, our daily email newsletter with handpicked stories relevant to where you live. Subscribe here.
There’s Ernest Costello, son of Maria Guadalupe Nieblas Gracian, whose Navy plane was shot down over Taiwan (then Formosa) during World War II.
There’s Anna Marie Nieblas, who reached the rank of lieutenant while serving in the Navy’s Cadet Nurse Corps from 1943 to 1948.
There’s Joshua Palmer, descendant of Jose Antonio “Tony” Nieblas, who worked his way up to become a lieutenant in the Marine Corps before being killed in Iraq.
Warriors all in their own way, this clan also has an impressive record of peacetime service.
There’s Father James Nieblas Jr. who had a private audience with Pope Francis and is pastoral counselor and minister to members of his Native American tribe, the Juañeno, Acjachemen Nation of San Juan Capistrano.
Brown tells me Susan Elvira Diaz Sanchez, descended from Jose Angel Nieblas, became a teacher and then a principal.
Jerome Nieblas was co-founder and president of the Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee.
Arthur Nieblas was a school teacher in Stanton and later a school principal. Before the school in Fountain Valley was shuttered and sold a decade ago, it was named after him to honor his dedication and commitment to learning and community.
“He was such an influence and role model for so many people,” states his obituary in 2010. “This is one individual who made his time on Earth meaningful and will truly be missed.”
New connections
As I wander through the crowd of descendants, there is much laughter, sharing, chomping on hotdogs, hamburgers, and homemade chocolate chip cookies, as well as photographs.
There even is a huge frame for people to pose inside. It’s decorated with old-timey grainy photos of some of the early descendants.
After a bit, I run into a man by the name of Larry Butcher and learn how the meaning of family can create a seismic shift for good.
Butcher allows he lives in Chula Vista and is 67 years old. But it wasn’t until January when he discovered he is a member of this massive family that traces its tribe to the mid-1800s.
“I grew up not knowing who my father was,” Butcher quietly shares. “I asked my mother but she was always vague. Finally, I stopped asking.”
A year ago, Butcher decided to enroll in ancestry.com, looked around and spotted little. What he didn’t know was that a pair of mother-daughter amateur genealogists — or rather sleuths — had picked up his bloodline.
In an ever-smaller world, Mary Brown also got a shock poring over DNA findings. She discovered Butcher was her half-brother, a man she had never heard of before.
And, of course, Butcher discovered his father’s side.
Butcher allows the sudden kinship after so many lost years is complicated and filled with mixed emotions. Yet he concludes the massive reunion offers what he calls “completion.”
As he talks, Butcher sits next to his new half-sister and he and Mary Brown share a moment of silence while simply gazing at all their relatives.
Then they look at each other for a moment and grin.
Pedal power meets the power of film in Long Beach Saturday, Aug. 4, with the Bicycle Drive-In.
People are encouraged to ride their bikes to downtown Long Beach for an outdoor movie night at Pine Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets. The film will be the 1971 romantic dark comedy “Harold and Maude” for the event, which is part of the free Summer and Music series presented by the Downtown Long Beach Alliance.
However, you won’t have to sit on your bike all night because Pedal Movement, which runs bicycle programs in downtown Long Beach, will provide free bike valet.
There will be artificial turf near the screen where people can sit, or they can bring bring lawn chairs for seating behind the turf.
The night will start with live music as several artists perform the “Harold and Maude” soundtrack, which was composed and recorded by Cat Stevens.
There will also be trivia before the film as well as a popcorn cart, downtown food vendors including The Pie Bar, Plant Junkie and Romeo Chocolates plus beer from Beachwood Brewing for the 21 and over crowd.
The event is free for all ages but food and drinks must be purchased.
The Summer and Music series ends with Buskerfest, a music competition where artists perform on flatbed trucks, in the East Village Arts District on Sept. 8.
If You Go:
When: 6 p.m. Aug. 4. Music starts at 7 p.m. and film screens at 8:20 p.m.
Where: Pine Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets
On the peak day of a heat wave, Mark Paderes smooths out lay liquid asphalt on a residential street in Bellflower on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew says they easily go through three gallons of water a day in this heat. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
Construction worker Gabriel Alvarado wipes the sweat off his face while working a job site in the heat in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
David Ruckdeschel makes sure the San Manuel Casino groundbreaking ceremony is a cool event. Photographed in Highland on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Gerald Smith, a senior rail maintenance of way administrator for the Orange County Transportation Authority, holds a thermometer along the railroad tracks at 10:30 a.m. in Anaheim on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew that works under his guidance, clears brush and removes graffiti along the tracks. “When it gets hot like this, they take extra water breaks,” said Smith. The crew clears about a mile of track a day in Orange County. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Letter carrier Nicole Arvizu wears a large hat to help shield her from the sun as she delivers the mail in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Tito Platon, of San Bernardino, gets a drink of water while playing tennis at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave Joe Peachy pulls in new wires on the power line in Wilmington on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
Mark Dawson, owner of The Attic Doctors, holds a thermometer in an attic in Orange, CA on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The temperature outside at 10 a.m. was 80 degrees but in the attic it was just under 100 degrees and climbing. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A worker walks across the railroad tracks as he and other members of a crew clears weeds, brush and debris away from the railroad tracks in Anaheim for the Orange County Transportation Authority at 10:30 a.m. in Anaheim as temperatures hovered in the mid 90’s on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew clears about a mile of track a day in Orange County. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A crew clears weeds, brush and debris away from the railroad tracks in Anaheim for the Orange County Transportation Authority at 10:30 a.m. in Anaheim as temperatures already hovered in the mid 90’s on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew clears about a mile of track a day in Orange County. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Bryson Stikkelman, left, and Andre Stikkelman, owner of Guardian Fence Company, worked an hour earlier to beat the heat as they install a rod iron fence for a business in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Santiago Gonzalez, of Rialto, uses his racket to shield himself from the sun while playing tennis at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Mark Dawson, owner of The Attic Doctors, works in an attic in Orange, CA on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The temperature outside at 10 a.m. was 80 degrees but in the attic it was just under 100 degrees and climbing. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
It was umbrella weather in North Hollywood Wednesday afternoon as temperatures again headed towards triple digits. There may be some break in the heat at the end of the week. (Photo by David Crane, Daily News/SCNG)
Mark Dawson, owner of The Attic Doctors, holds a thermometer in an attic in Orange, CA on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The temperature outside at 10 a.m. was 80 degrees but in the attic it was just under 100 degrees and climbing. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Antonio Pacheco, with Guardian Fence Company, refills a bottle with water as the company installs a rod iron fence for a business in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The workers started an extra hour early to help beat the heat. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Letter carrier Nicole Arvizu takes a drink of Gatorade after delivering the mail to a neighborhood in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Mark Dawson, owner of The Attic Doctors, works in an attic in Orange, CA on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The temperature outside at 10 a.m. was 80 degrees but in the attic it was just under 100 degrees and climbing. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave David Escamilla stays hydrated while repairing a sidewalk in Compton on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
Anheuser-Busch delivery driver Jason Camacho, delivers an order of drinks to a market in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave, Mark Paderes smooths out lay liquid asphalt on a residential street in Bellflower on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew says they easily go through three gallons of water a day in this heat. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
Landscapers Manuel Escamilla, left, and Bob Brugos, take a break in the shade after finishing a job in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The early morning sun creates long shadows as landscapers Cutberto Vargas, left, and Victor Sanchez, rake up leaves while working in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
George Ledford, of Highland, takes a drink of his partially frozen water after finishing a game of tennis with Tom Salmon, of San Bernardino, early Wednesday, July 25, 2018 to beat the heat at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Raul Ventura, with Guardian Fence Company, welds a fence under the heat of the sun in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The company started an hour early to help beat the heat. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Construction worker Roberto Lopez takes a break for a drink of water while working in the heat in San Bernardino on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A DWP work crew carries on with temperatures in the 90’s at a job site at Vesper and Oxnard streets in Van Nuys Wednesday. There may be some break in the heat at the end of the week. (Photo by David Crane, Daily News/SCNG)
A DWP work crew carries on with temperatures in the 90’s at a job site at Vesper and Oxnard streets in Van Nuys Wednesday. There may be some break in the heat at the end of the week. (Photo by David Crane, Daily News/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave Joe Peachy stays hydrated while working on power lines in Wilmington on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave employees from DWP replace a water main pipe in Wilmington on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave George Camarena stays hydrated while repairing a sidewalk in Compton on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave a crew repairs a sidewalk
in Compton on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave, Mark Paderes smooths out lay liquid asphalt on a residential street in Bellflower on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew says they easily go through three gallons of water a day in this heat. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
On the peak day of a heat wave, Mark Paderes smooths out lay liquid asphalt on a residential street in Bellflower on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The crew says they easily go through three gallons of water a day in this heat. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
It was another day of extreme heat in Southern California as Mark Dawson, owner of The Attic Doctors, worked in an attic in Orange where the temperature was nearly 100 degrees and climbing before noon. Dawson thinks he has the second hottest job in the area, next to perhaps spreading slurry in Palm Springs where the temperature was expected to reach 117 degrees on Wednesday.
“Guys that work for me are used to working in the heat,” he said. “They probably love heat.”
Although, he acknowledged they try to start early and take more water breaks during hot spells.
By late morning the temperature was in the upper 90’s as a crew cleared weeds and trash along the railroad tracks in Anaheim for the Orange County Transportation Authority.
“When it gets hot like this, they take extra water breaks,” said Gerald Smith, a senior rail maintenance of way administrator for the OCTA.
Further inland at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino, George Ledford, of Highland, took a drink of his partially frozen water after finishing a game of tennis where temperatures hit 108 degrees by early afternoon.
In Bellflower, Mark Paderes smoothed out liquid asphalt on a residential street. He said the crew will easily go through three gallons of water a day in this heat.
A former Newport Beach captain who piloted an Alaska Airlines flight while under the influence of alcohol was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in federal prison.
Along with the time behind bars, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney also ordered David Hans Arntson to pay a $60,000 fine, telling the former pilot that he engaged in “a very dangerous offense,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
As part of a plea deal, Arntson admitted that for much of his tenure as an airline captain he was an alcoholic, which, according to a court filing, led him to “pilot passenger airline flights while under the influence of alcohol.”
On June 20, 2014, Arntson piloted a pair of commercial flights, from San Diego International Airport to Portland, Ore, then from Portland to John Wayne Airport.
When he arrived in Orange County, Arntson was selected for a random drug-and-alcohol test by Alaska Airlines. A pair of breathalyzer tests showed he had a blood-alcohol concentration of .132 and .142 percent, well over the federal limit of .04 for pilots.
Prosecutors said Arntson immediately drove home after the tests, despite having a blood alcohol content above the legal limit to drive a car. They also allege Arntson later falsely claimed to a federal Department of Transportation agent that he was only a social drinker and only consumed “a few sips of beer” during dinner the night before the June 20 flights.
Sign up for our breaking news email newsletter: When major local news happens, you will be the first to know. Subscribe here.
Arntson quit his job before he could be fired for failing the alcohol test. Alaska Airlines officials at the time said that prior to the test he had an unblemished 31-year career with the carrier.
However, according to a sentencing brief filed by prosecutors, five years before the failed test the “chief pilot” for Alaska Airlines received a call from someone he knew who was concerned about Arntson’s “drinking problem.” According to prosecutors, another pilot then informed Arntson about an available alcohol treatment program.
“It is readily apparent that defendant, while suffering from alcoholism, concealed his disease from Alaska Airlines, the FAA and from various health care providers, and that during this time, defendant piloted airline passenger flights,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Mitchell wrote.
Arntson’s attorneys in their own sentencing brief indicated that their client’s excessive drinking over the years had rotted his liver and left him with cirrhosis. As a result, the attorneys wrote, Arntson could not physically process alcohol the way his body used to, and didn’t feel impaired while flying.
“After initially minimizing the seriousness of his alcohol addiction, Mr. Arntson has freely admitted his unlawful conduct and has fully accepted responsibility for his actions,” Attorney Alexander Merton wrote.
As a prosecutor, Enright rose to the top of the homicide division at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
In private practice, Enright defended some of the most infamous killers the county has ever known, guys with monikers like “Bedroom Basher.”
He engaged the law from both sides. And both benefited, say those who knew him.
Enright died Sunday night after a lengthy battle with cancer, said his son, also James Enright. He was 91.
Arrangements are pending.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Enright, in front row, second from right, and the DA’s homicide team in the late 1980s. (File photo; Orange County Register/SCNG)
“Jim Enright was a highly respected prosecutor,” said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. “I was very saddened to hear of his passing. He was a mentor to me and to so many others here in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and he exuded all of the qualities a true leader shares with others: He was kind, caring, respectful and had excellent judgment. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”
Enright worked as a prosecutor for 30 years, 24 of them as the chief deputy district attorney in charge of homicide cases.
He spent 18 years in private practice, taking the county’s hardest cases.
Enright defended Gerald Parker, who confessed to the serial sex slayings of five young women, and Gunner Lindberg, who stabbed a man to death in a racial killing.
Enright also represented Noel Jesse Plata as he was sentenced to death for torturing and killing Linda Park, 18, during a home invasion robbery at her Irvine home.
Enright, in a 2008 interview, said working defense was difficult because of the emotions surrounding the case.
“I felt prosecution came easier for me, because usually we have the evidence and the emotion on our side. It was more natural as a prosecutor, where you get to wear the white hat and get justice for victims,” Enright said. “The toughest part about being a defense attorney is that you are arguing against a wave of emotional evidence from the prosecution side. No case can be more of an example of that than Plata … the emotional wallop from the other side in that case was absolutely overwhelming.”
Enright of Orange is survived by sister Marilyn Timberger; daughter Jeanmarie Enright; son James Enright; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Former Register staff writer Larry Welborn contributed to this story.
PHILADELPHIA – The past three days the Dodgers watched Philadelphia fans fete Chase Utley who will retire after this season. Now, the Dodgers are going to celebrate one of their own.
The Dodgers announced Wednesday that they will honor Andre Ethier in a pre-game retirement ceremony before their game against the Houston Astros on August 3. Ethier, 36, has not played since last year’s World Series against the Astros, essentially retiring when he went into this season unsigned.
Actor Jason Bateman will emcee the retirement ceremony which will feature tributes from Ethier’s former teammates. The game is expected to sell out and fans are encouraged to arrive early that night.
Originally drafted out of Arizona State by the Oakland A’s, Ethier was traded to the Dodgers for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez in December 2005. Ethier made the Dodgers’ roster the following spring and started a 12-year career with the team.
That career included two All-Star appearances (2010 and 2011), a Gold Glove award (2011) and a Silver Slugger award (2009). Ethier finished with a .285 career average and ranks among the all-time leaders in Los Angeles Dodgers history in games played (seventh), hits (seventh), extra-base hits (fourth), doubles (third), home runs (tied for eighth) and RBI (sixth). His 30-game hitting streak in April-May 2011 is the second-longest in franchise history behind Willie Davis’ 31-game streak in 1969 and Ethier’s 10 consecutive at-bats with a hit in August 2012 is tied for the Dodgers’ franchise record.
San Manuel Casino is getting in on the Southern California casino resort game and celebrated breaking ground on its $550 million expansion project, which includes a hotel and a new entertainment venue, with a ceremony Wednesday, July 25.
This rendering shows the hotel that will be part of the San Manuel Casino expansion. (Courtesy San Manuel Casino)
This rendering shows the hotel that will be part of the San Manuel Casino expansion. (Courtesy San Manuel Casino)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
Running Bear Ramirez holds his golden shovel high as Presley Calderon, 10, of Highland, looks on during San Manuel Casino’s groundbreaking ceremony held in Highland on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Ramirez lives on the San Manuel reservation. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Running Bear Ramirez holds his golden shovel high as San Manuel Casino’s groundbreaking ceremony held in Highland on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Ramirez lives on the San Manuel reservation. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Lynn Valbuena, chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, second from left, breaks ground at San Manuel Casino in Highland on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. She emphasized how San Bernardino has grown and thrived. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
David Ruckdeschel makes sure the San Manuel Casino groundbreaking ceremony is a cool event. Photographed in Highland on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
“Our guests continually ask ‘Why is there no hotel here?’” Loren Gill, general manager at San Manuel Casino said in an interview after the ceremony. “With competitive pressure, now is a good time for this project.”
What began in 1986 as a bingo hall will transform into a full-fledged resort, complete with a hotel, pool complex, spa, fitness center and several additional restaurants and retail shops adding 750,000 square feet of additional space to the property.
The first phase of the expansion — a 6-story parking garage with 2,400 stalls — is already underway near the front of the property and is expected to be completed in late 2019.
Behind the current casino, where citrus and avocado groves once stood, will be the site of the second phase of construction, a new indoor entertainment venue. Featuring 3,000 seats, the venue is scheduled to be finished in 2021. The casino hasn’t had a large space for entertainment since closing its bingo hall and revamping it into the Rockin’ Casino, which was completed in November 2017.
The final phase of the expansion is a hotel that will be 14-17 stories, with approximately 450 rooms, a pool complex, a spa and fitness center. There will also be several new restaurants and retail shops, but a completion date on this phase has yet to be announced.
At a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, bird singers performed and the tribe screened a short film with renderings of the hotel, pool complex, parking structure and indoor entertainment venue.
Additional gaming space, if any, is undetermined according to casino officials.
“This project has been a long time coming,” Lynn Valbuena, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians tribal chairwoman, said. “Once we started to acquire land we thought at some point in some way we would build a hotel for our patrons.”
San Manuel Casino joins a list of Southern California casinos increasing in size.
Pechanga Resort & Casino completed a $300 million expansion in March which includes a new hotel tower, a resort-style pool complex, new events center and two new restaurants. Pala Casino Spa & Resort is undergoing a $170 million expansion and opened a new pool complex in May with plans to build a new hotel wing.
Soboba Casino is also building a new casino and hotel complex on 37.5 acres of land about a mile from the current property, with plans to open by the end of the year.
The expansion project at San Manuel is expected to create approximately 1,400 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs, said Jerry Paresa, chief executive officer of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
“We don’t have a flood of investors dumping money into this community,” Paresa said. “Hopefully this will be a shot in the arm to the community and other investors will take a look at the community.”
Hundreds of junior lifeguards filled the sand north of the Seal Beach Pier, hurling shaving cream at each other in a ritual marking the end of their seven-week training program.
In the Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards program they learn to jump off the pier, do basic rescues and perform first aid and CPR.
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lifeguards, in red shorts, celebrate with celebrate the end of the seven-week junior guard program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lifeguards, in red shorts, celebrate with celebrate the end of the seven-week junior guard program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lifeguards, in red shorts, celebrate with celebrate the end of the seven-week junior guard program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Seal Beach Junior Lifeguards head in to the ocean to wash off after a shaving cream fight to celebrate the end of their seven-week summer program with a shaving cream fight on the sand north of the pier in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. The ritual is an annual battle to mark to last day of junior guards. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Liam Maples jumps off the Seal Beach Pier on the last day of the seven-week junior guard program in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The highlight, for many, is the end-of-summer tradition of a shaving cream fight.
Trevor Talsma, a swimmer at Los Alamitos High School, said the program helps with his swimming, but also, he has done junior guards for the last four years because all his friends are there and, “You can’t beat being at the beach.”
David Sweet, a retired teacher and former lifeguard, stood on the pier watching the youngsters play games in the sand, swim and fling shaving cream at their friends.
His granddaughter, Addison Mrosek, 9, was celebrating her first summer in the program he helped start.
Sweet said he started the predecessor to the Junior Lifeguard Program in the 1970s, called Ocean Orientation. He said back then, it was just him and an aide with 16 kids.
It was “a real thrill” to see his granddaughter progress, he said. “Starting out fearful of the ocean, and then be able to overcome some of that.”
Madison Walker, another Los Alamitos High swimmer, said it’s fun to be at the beach every day with her friends. “And just also being able to save lives is pretty cool.”
Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels starter Nick Tropeano (35) pitches to the Chicago White Sox in the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif.,Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout grounds out as Chicago White Sox first baseman Nicky Delmonico (30) makes the play in the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif.,Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) strikes out against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels’ Kole Calhoun (56) slugs a solo home run against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Chicago White Sox designated hitter José Abreu (79) is congratulated by Avisail Garcia, center, after hitting a solo home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Francisco Arcia (37) watches in the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels’ Ian Kinsler hits a solo home run against the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Chicago White Sox left fielder Daniel Palka (18) can’t reach a solo home run hit by Los Angeles Angels’ Ian Kinsler in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels’ Ian Kinsler runs the bases after hitting a solo home run as Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Covey (68) walks to the mound in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels Kole Calhoun avoids a wild pitch from Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Covey in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels’ Ian Kinsler (3) celebrates with teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels’ Andrelton Simmons (2) connects on a triple to left, scoring two runs, and he then scored from third on an error throw to the plate against the Chicago White Sox, in the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols, right, scores as Justin Upton, center, waves in Andrelton Simmons from third base as Chicago White Sox catcher Kevin Smith (36) chases an wild throw, in the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
ANAHEIM — Francisco Arcia had spent parts of 12 seasons toiling in the minor leagues before the Angels’ trade of Martín Maldonado created an opening for him on Thursday.
He certainly made it count.
Arcia belted a three-run homer for his first big league hit, breaking open a one-run game and sending the Angels on their way to a 12-8 home victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Arcia, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, became the eighth player in Angels history to hit a homer in his major league debut, a feat most recently accomplished in May by José Briceño. Arcia and Briceño now form the Angels catching combo following the Maldonado trade.
Arcia, who added an RBI single in the eighth, became the first player in Angels history to have four RBIs in his big league debut.
When he came to bat in the seventh, the Angels had just seen their 6-2 lead shrink to 6-5. He got all the runs back with a blast into the right-field seats. Arcia pointed to the sky and clapped his hands as he circled the bases, before being mobbed by his teammates in the dugout.
It was certainly the most emotional of the nine homers hit on the warm day at Angel Stadium.
Kole Calhoun and Ian Kinsler hit the Angels first two homers, the latter putting the team up 3-2 in the fourth. They then padded the lead on a “Little League homer” by Andrelton Simmons.
Sign up for Home Turf and get exclusive stories every SoCal sports fan must read, sent daily. Subscribe here.
With two on and two out in the fifth, Simmons circled the bases on a triple and an error. A routine hit into left center got past center fielder Leury Garcia and rolled to the warning track as Albert Pujols chugged around third. Shortstop Tim Anderson’s relay to the plate sailed back the screen, allowing Pujols and Simmons to score.
The Angels, who scored 11 runs on Wednesday, ended up with their first back-to-back games with even five runs since June 29-30 against the Baltimore Orioles.
They also got four hits from Justin Upton, including two with runners in scoring position.
The offensive barrage helped them withstand the five solo homers allowed by Nick Tropeano.
Oddly, Tropeano did not give up a hit outside of the homers. José Abreu, Avisail Garcia and Nicky Delmonico hit homers, and Daniel Palka hit two.
Tropeano took the mound in the seventh with a 6-2 lead, but he gave up three homers, to Garcia, Palka and Delmonico, ending his day.
Read the details of the event here. 
