Join OC Parks naturalists along with Laguna Canyon Foundation volunteers and bring your little ones (infant to age 3) to explore Aliso’s wild backyard. Tot Walk takes place 9-11:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20. Take a leisurely stroll through the garden and to the creek to search for bugs, plants and birds.

There is no charge for the tot walk but parking is $3. Registration required at lagunacanyon.org. Click on “events.”

IF YOU GO

When: 9 a.m. Dec. 20

Where: Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, Park Ranger Headquarters, 28373 Alicia Parkway, Aliso Viejo

Information: 949-923-2200

MIAMI >> Every player has his role. Jared Dudley is here to get fined.

Well, occasionally. The 34-year-old veteran said as much at media day, when he told reporters if any opponents had a flagrant foul on LeBron James or Anthony Davis, “It’s on, straight up. … That’s part of my job here.”

Taking a double technical in a fourth quarter scrap for Dwight Howard wasn’t exactly what he imagined on the outset, but Dudley (who is making the veteran’s minimum this season) knows the cardinal rule of an NBA rotation player: Know your role.

“I’m not an enforcer but there’s certain times you’ve got to stick up,” Dudley said after the 96-87 win over Orlando. “Usually a lot of people don’t mess with LeBron and AD because of them being such high quality players, so what I said on media day was more for them two, because they’re not here to get chippy stuff. It’s guys like me who try to hang around a couple more years.”

There was some incredulity to the postgame discussion of Dudley’s ejection in the Lakers locker room. Howard called it “kind of bogus” that Dudley was tossed for a push and standing up for him against Wes Iwundu and Terrence Ross. Davis said he was surprised that the penalty was so severe.

James asked: “That’s all it takes to get ejected? These days? Little shove?”

But while the Lakers lauded Dudley for being “the muscle,” but it was also the rare night in which Dudley was allowed to show a little more of his game. Before he was ejected with the double technical, he was enjoying a season-high 9 points, all scored on 3-pointers.

With Kyle Kuzma sidelined while nursing an injured ankle, the Lakers leaned on Dudley to produce off the bench. In that role too, he did his part.

“My number’s eventually going to get called, it’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here,” he said. “I knew I wouldn’t have to play every day, I knew we have AD and Kuzma so I might play 40 or 50 games, but you know it’s a long season, people are going to miss games.”

Bradley back in action

After a few weeks of the vaunted “Avery Challenge” to get the Lakers’ defense back to No. 1, Frank Vogel smiled at the first stat sheet he’s seen in a month with Bradley’s name on it.

“Shocking: Avery Bradley comes back and we hold a team under 90 points,” Vogel quipped. “He’s not all responsible for it, Avery. But getting his legs underneath him.”

Indeed, Bradley, who had just two points in the game, was a positive influence: The Lakers outscored the Magic by 12 in the minutes he played.

It’s been a slow process of recovery for Bradley after a hairline fracture in his right leg sidelined him for 14 games. The Lakers only lost once without him, but their defense took a statistical backslide before Vogel attempted to reinvigorate them with the challenge in Bradley’s name.

Bradley played just under 17 minutes and had hoped to play more in his debut, but he said the coaching staff had been transparent pregame in their plans to bring him off the bench.

Vogel has dropped hints in recent weeks that Bradley, when fully healthy, should be the starting guard again in place of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who has filled in reliably. Bradley himself said he was “extremely happy” for Caldwell-Pope, who started the season as embattled as anyone on the Lakers roster.

The Lakers said Rajon Rondo was a game-time decision on Wednesday night, but ended up sitting him with hamstring soreness in his left leg.

“I think he was hopeful but just not ready yet,” Vogel said. “It’s early in the season. We’re not going to rush guys back, especially soft tissue injuries.”

An Oakland City Council member’s plan to house up to 1,000 homeless people on a cruise ship in the bay could actually set sail.

Rebecca Kaplan suggested the idea at a committee meeting last Thursday, and by Tuesday’s council meeting, a company had already expressed interest in providing its ships, she said.

“I’m excited about the possibility to create more affordable housing quickly,” Kaplan told the Bay Area News Group after Tuesday’s meeting.

Why would a cruise company want to offer up a ship to house the homeless rather than make money operating cruises?

Because the International Maritime Organization is imposing more stringent emissions regulations in 2020, and some ships won’t be able to upgrade their engines to the new standards in time, Kaplan said. Instead, they could dock them at the Port of Oakland or a private dock and plug into electricity, she said.

It wouldn’t be the first time cruise ships have been used for emergency housing. Ships were used to house relief workers responding to Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas this September; the Federal Emergency Management Agency — or FEMA — chartered cruise ships to house people in 2017 during the hurricanes in the U.S. Virgin Islands; and in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.

Kaplan said she envisions having “sliding scale accommodations” on board, so the residents would be paying for the services themselves.

It would be up to the port or a private dock to allow the cruise ship to dock there, and determine how much the cruise company would pay for it, Kaplan said.

But Port of Oakland officials say the plan wouldn’t work on its docks.

Port of Oakland spokesman Michael Zampa said though port officials “respect President Kaplan’s desire to address homelessness,” the port’s docks are designed for cargo ships, not cruise ships. Cruises typically board out of San Francisco, he said, since the Port of Oakland doesn’t have the infrastructure to allow for residential use.

Given Oakland’s lack of affordable housing, Kaplan said, the idea is worth at least exploring.

“I think it’s worth working on to see if we can have an innovation to provide needed, urgent housing quickly and affordably,” Kaplan said.

The consensus box of picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for Thursday, Dec. 12 for racing at Los Alamitos.

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USC is coming into the home stretch before the early signing period next week, when the first wave of 2020 football recruits can put pen to paper and make their commitments official on National Letters of Intent.

In the days leading up to it, the Trojans have undergone a bit of a shuffle at the offensive line position for their 2020 class. USC lost the commitments of two linemen in three days, with St. Margaret’s Kyle Juergens joining Bishop Manogue (Nev.) lineman Joey Wright on the open market.

But the Trojans recovered quickly with the pledge of Cedar Hill (Tex.) three-star lineman Courtland Ford, a one-time LSU commit. The 6-foot-6, 305-pound lineman gave his verbal quickly to USC after an official visit over the weekend.

The shuffle has USC’s 10-person class currently ranked 80th nationally and last in the Pac-12, according to 247Sports.com, with a week to go before Wednesday’s early signing day and limited scholarship spots left. But 247Sports national analyst Greg Biggins thinks that USC could close the 2020 class out strong.

Biggins spoke with Southern California News Group to share his perspective on where the USC class stands, how it might look when it all shakes out and how the elongated Clay Helton rumor mill affected USC’s recruiting efforts:

Question: Just big picture, how do you feel the week of rampant speculation about Helton’s future as USC’s head coach and his return for 2020 affected USC’s recruiting both in terms of perception and what they’ve been able to accomplish practically?

Biggins: “It might surprise some people, but the buzz from recruits has been really positive. We can maybe sit back here and think a year from now they might be in the same position, if Helton doesn’t win 10 games, what’s going to happen? But I think a lot of kids, they look right in front of you versus long-term. Beginning of the year, the biggest issue for them is they don’t know who the coach is going to be next year.

“Now they know it’s going to be Helton, so it’s been real positive. He’s a very well-liked coach. Kids like him, families like him a lot. They’re doing a good job the last week of getting in homes, talking to kids. They’re selling the fact that, ‘We’re close. We’re really close. We could have won 9-10 games this year. We got everybody back minus a few guys for next year’s team.’ Kids, I think it’s been a positive reaction. I could actually see them closing kinda strong. We’ll see, but I think they could depending on how things break.”

Question: When you say closing strong, what does that mean to you with this class considering how small it is?

Biggins: “I just think some of the names they could end up with could surprise some people. I feel like they think that now that Helton’s back, no one’s going to want to go there, no one’s going to want to play for him. I think there’s going to be a pretty decent amount of quality players that are going to end up there that people might not have thought were going to go there. I honestly think they have a chance to pull off a couple of surprises. They’re really pushing hard this last week. It’ll be really interesting to see how it all comes together.”

Question: One of Helton’s favorite sayings is ‘USC recruits itself.’ Do you think part of the reaction from recruits is due to that?

Biggins: “Yeah, I think so. I was just talking to a coach from the Big 12 a couple days ago and he said, ‘Man, they need to get a recruiter.’ USC starts leading off for pretty much every SoCal kid and then you have to basically lose the kid, whereas other schools have to sell the kid. Most of these top kids are ready to go [to USC], just give them a reason why. And I think the reason they weren’t looking at USC this past year is because there was so much uncertainty about who the coach was going to be next year. I think they’re in a position where if it was any other school, kids would have written them off a long time ago. But USC, the brand is so strong that there are a lot of kids that are just waiting around and now they still have a high interest just because of the USC brand and the name.”

Question: USC is still looking for a quarterback commit after losing Mater Dei’s Bryce Young to Alabama. The Trojans offered Rancho Cucamonga QB CJ Stroud last week. What kind of prospect is Stroud?

Biggins: “I love him. I’ve seen everybody in Texas, I’ve seen some kids from Georgia. For me, I’ll sound like a SoCal homer, but he’s the No. 3 quarterback in the country behind Bryce and D.J. Uiagalelei. That’s never happened before, but CJ was the MVP at the Opening finals. And then this season, he was incredible with the pads on, too. I can’t find a weakness in his game and he just keeps getting better and better. He’s still young, he’s still not even close to being tapped out. He’s only been playing for two years as a starter. But he’s really good.”

The consensus box of picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for Friday, Dec. 13 for racing at Los Alamitos.

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Andrew McMahon is ready to lay everything bare.

His current tour provides a rare chance to see the Dana Point singer/pianist fly totally solo for an entire concert.

“It’s something I had shied away from for a long time because you obviously don’t have a lot of cover,” admitted McMahon, in a phone interview. “There’s a lot to try and pull off dynamically.

“When it works, I feel like they can be magical evenings where the audience kind of becomes the band. You keep them engaged and singing…it’s a new challenge for me. I feel like I’m up to it.”

Fans can look forward to hearing stripped down selections from throughout the pop/rock musician’s career — Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin (holiday tune “The Lights and Buzz”) and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness (top 20 alt-rock hits “Cecilia and the Satellite,” “Fire Escape,” “High Dive”) — plus stories and more at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, The Cave in Big Bear and The Music Box in San Diego.

“I try to keep it as loose as possible and make it so the night is available to take turns in different directions if something doesn’t feel right,” explained McMahon. With a more intimate environment and nobody else onstage “relying on you to steer the show,” he has more freedom to stop and improvise.

Returning to the Coach House should bring back fond memories for McMahon. The O.C. venue was where Something Corporate played early gigs. Venue owner Gary Folgner mentored the teenage group and helped them put out independent debut album “Ready…Break” in 2000. McMahon also did a pair of concerts there in December 2017 after a long absence.

“I’m not sure that anything has changed in that room since we first started playing it,” he said with a laugh. “There’s something comforting about” encountering the same old school vibe again.

Rock and cocktails

Last year’s terrific Wilderness album “Upside Down Flowers” was a more personal effort than usual that found McMahon working in the studio with rock and pop producer Butch Walker (Weezer, P!nk, Fall Out Boy). They handled most of the music themselves.

The pair previously met in 2005 when both contributed to a Tommy Lee album. Once an opportunity finally came to join forces, he discovered “there was a lot of trust. I tend to like working one-on-one better than anything. There’s something beautiful about having two people bringing their collective experience to a song and finding the things they love about each other’s perspectives and points of view.”

Nostalgia had a major influence on the lyrics. Stately standout “Teenage Rockstars” references Something Corporate’s career, boasts a sway-worthy chorus and has a wistful tone reminiscent of Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes.” Another David Bowie nod comes via “Goodnight, Rock and Roll,” a deft tribute to legends like Tom Petty Bowie.

McMahon said he was motivated to “write something that was reflective in a different way, (revisiting) memories and scenarios from as far back as being a young kid.”

Right around the album’s release, McMahon displayed his cocktail making skills in a popular Instagram post that led to a witty YouTube video series called “The Rocktail Hour.” They were filmed at Vine Restaurant & Bar in San Clemente, where the musician often frequents.

“I’ve known those guys for years,” said McMahon. Gabe Whorley at Vine helped the musician come up with cocktails named after “Flowers” songs. “We had a blast. It was a fun afternoon, albeit one I couldn’t drive home from. I’d like to do more.”

Back in June, McMahon released a mesmerizing cover of Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn” via Amazon Music. The Texan wasn’t “really on my radar,” but suggestions from McMahon’s management, his wife and young daughter helped seal the deal.

Then McMahon “fell in love” with Musgraves. “I just watched her Amazon Christmas special. It’s campy and funny in all the best ways. (‘Golden Hour’) was one of my favorite records last year.”

McMahon, already an Emmy nominee for writing a song for the 2013 season of NBC series “Smash,” recently added to his TV music resume. Along with Morgan Kibby (the ex-M83 member who co-wrote a Wilderness tune), McMahon composed music for “Soundtrack.” The new Netflix anthology drama series revolving around Los Angeles love stories debuts Dec. 18.

“There was so much growth there,” he said. “That was one of the most valuable and exciting things I got to do this year: to expand my creative palette and start looking at music in a different way.”

And more new solo material is on the horizon.

“I’m on a musical mission and feel like I’m having this prolific, interesting moment where I’ve been trying to play with language and write these really vivid scenes. I’m super excited,” he said.

If you go

San Juan Capistrano: 8 p.m. Dec. 19, The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano. Sold out. 949-496-8930, thecoachhouse.com

Big Bear Lake: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20, The Cave, 40789 Village Drive. $38. 909-878-0204, thecavebigbear.com

San Diego: 7 p.m. Dec. 21, Music Box, 1337 India St. $39.50. 619-795-1337, ticketweb.com

Also: 6:30 p.m. June 19, with Awolnation, Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, $29-$69, ticketmaster.com

Just weeks before Huntington Beach-based reggae-rock band Dirty Heads embarked on a summerlong co-headlining tour with 311 back in July, Dirty Heads guitarist Dustin “Duddy” Bushnell decided to explore the world of podcasting. As someone who travels a lot for work, Bushnell said he’d become a fan of listening to “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the improvised comedy podcast “Hello from the Magic Tavern,” and “The NoSleep Podcast,” which tells a new horror-fiction story each week, as he flew on planes or had downtime on the tour bus.

After paying a visit to ReAmp Studios in Tustin, which has a pretty sweet podcast set up, Bushnell said he was sold on the concept of starting his own and tapped his younger brother, Jake Bushnell, to help him launch the weekly “Feelin’ Good with Duddy” podcast.

“It’s just such a cool format because you can do whatever you want,” Dustin Bushnell said during a recent visit to the studio. A new episode is uploaded every Wednesday and the guys had a stacked schedule, taping back-to-back episodes with members of reggae-rock band Tropidelic and Pepper singer-songwriter and guitarist Kaleo Wassman.

“I just like that there are no rules,” Jake Bushnell added. “You can say whatever you want and it’s up to the people that listen to like you or not. Every other form of media is so highly controlled and podcasting is just not that way. You can be as creative or as uncreative as you want to be. Anyone can have a podcast, you just can’t overthink it. We didn’t overthink our first episode, we just hit record and we went with it and I swear to God at the end of the show we looked into the booth and we were like ‘Was that good?’ We put it up a week later and we were podcasters. Absolutely no qualifications.”

Much like the music Dirty Heads make, the podcast tries to focus on feel-good vibes. The hosts have a different guest in each week, whether it be a musician, comedian or athlete, and in between cracking jokes and some potty humor, they share inspiring stories.

“We try to keep it lighthearted, like you’re just sitting around talking with your friends and at the end of it, you feel good,” Dustin Bushnell said. “There’s always something you can laugh at and a positive message in every episode.”

“The world is crazy enough right now with politics and all of that, so we wanted to make things fun,” Jake Bushnell added. “We make fun of ourselves and try to come up with a word or phrase that can sort of be the theme for the episode. We bring guests on and talk about what’s unique about that person and break down what they’re doing or what they’ve done.”

Over the summer, the brothers took the podcast on the road and pulled in a variety of musician friends, guitar techs and more into hotel rooms and onto the tour bus for tapings. The Bushnells also started to notice people wearing the podcast swag at Dirty Heads concerts.

“I see them in the crowd and that’s cool,” Dustin said. “People have hit me up like ‘Oh my God, I love your podcast’ and it feels like along the same lines as when someone says, ‘I like your music’ or ‘Your song really helped me through this tough time.’ The podcast does that same thing for some people.”

Just because they keep the upbeat vibe, the Bushnells don’t shy away from talking about the more difficult aspects of life. Recent episodes with guests and fellow podcasters Vanessa Johnston of “Sooo Aggressive” and Josh Knutti of “OverComing You,” both dealt with some sensitive and personal topics that got a big response from the “Feelin’ Good with Dudddy” followers.

“When we had Vanessa Johnston in here, she’s a super fast rising comedian in L.A., and for the first time in public she talked about having been raped,” Jake Bushnell said. “She was saying how she had jokes that involved rape and she had gotten such flack for it, but in her mind, it was her dealing with having been raped. She was really conflicted about it. It was a huge revelation and it must have been insanely hard for her to share, but we’re glad she felt comfortable enough to do that.”

“We had another one, too, with Josh (Knutti) where he talked about the fact that he had tried to shoot himself in the head but the gun didn’t go off,” Dustin Bushnell added. “I think it’s important to share those stories, too, and not to go down just that dark path, but to talk about how they are now and this is how they got to right now. We got so many messages from people after those episodes. It really hit them. That’s the thing … we’re all human.”

As it wraps up the end of the year, the “Feelin’ Good with Duddy” podcast will be hosting a special live “Duddy + Friends Feelin’ Good Holiday Charity Show,” which will be live streamed via Facebook, Instagram and YouTube starting at noon on Sunday, Dec. 15. There will be live acoustic performances by Duddy, Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome, The Simpkin Project, Poor Man’s Change, Tomorrows Bad Seeds, Burritos the Band and more.

There will also be comedians performing live including Jamie Kennedy, John Campanelli, Vanessa Johnston and Eric Freedman and previous “Feelin’ Good” guests Avenge Sevenfold’s Johnny Christ, MMA fighter Ian Butler, Dirty Heads’ manager Mike “Cheez” Brown and others will be hanging out as well. Fans can tune in and donate during the show (with the provided GoFundMe link) and all proceeds will benefit Grandma’s House of Hope and The Surfrider Foundation.

The podcast will once again hit the road next year as Dustin Bushnell has booked a solo acoustic tour alongside Rome Ramirez with special guest Micah Brown of Iration through February and March.

“I’m super excited about it and also super nervous,” Dustin said. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve played little solo things in front of like 50 people where I do three or four songs and then go take pictures with people, but some of these venues hold like 2,000 people and it’s just a stage, stool and me. I can’t hide behind Jared (Watson of Dirty Heads). We talk about this kind of stuff all the time on the podcast, about doing the things that make you nervous and things that you’re scared of, because you just never know.”

Dirty Heads will also be headlining the first day of the three-day One Love Cali Reggae Fest at Queen Mary Park in Long Beach Feb. 7-9. The lineup also includes sets from Pepper, Sublime with Rome, Collie Buddz, Matisyahu, Rebelution, Stick Figure, Soja, Steel Pulse, J Boog, Iration, Slightly Stoopid, Damian Marley, Common Kings and more.

“Those hometown shows are always fun,” Dustin said. “They don’t really feel like work because you’re just hanging out with all of your friends in bands and then all of your family shows up. You also get those people at hometown shows that are like ‘Dude, we went to high school together, can you get me in?’ So those guest lists can get a bit out of control.”

Walt Disney Imagineering revealed the magic behind the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge during a new Disney+ show that was offered unprecedented behind-the-scenes access inside the new Disneyland attraction.

The sixth episode of “The Imagineering Story” docuseries on Disney+ debuting Friday, Dec. 13 shows the three-dimensional Swiss watch mechanism that allows Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride operators to get up to 1,800 riders per hour on the attraction.

Smugglers Run contains four separate turntables each with seven individual Millennium Falcon cockpits, according to the Disney+ docuseries. Up until now, Imagineering had worked tirelessly to keep those operational secrets hidden from visitors.

The Disney+ docuseries showed footage inside the darkened attraction building of the cockpits spinning on turntables like bullets in the chamber of a revolver handgun.

The Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge puts riders in the cockpit of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy on a smuggling mission for a notorious space pirate. Six riders climb into the cockpit of the Falcon, serving as co-pilots, gunners and flight engineers during a battle with First Order TIE fighters. The cockpit’s 200 fully-functional buttons, knobs and switches directly impact each mission.

SEE ALSO: How does ride downtime compare on Disney’s Smugglers Run and Universal’s Hagrid’s Motorbike? It’s not even close

Imagineering partnered with game engine software developers to create an interactive video game-like experience aboard the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction.

“We knew we needed this to be near cinematic quality imagery rendered at a high frame rate in real time,” Imagineering portfolio creative executive Scott Trowbridge says in the Disney+ docuseries.

The only problem: The technology did not exist yet.

“We started marching down that path with the expectation that by the time we were getting ready to open it would all work,” Trowbridge says in the documentary.

Adding to the challenge: Disney had never built a ride quite like Smugglers Run before.

“That’s what life is like when you’re working on the cutting edge of technology,” Trowbridge says in the docuseries. “You’re treading in territory that no one’s been in before. Yet we’re counting on this all working flawlessly and seamlessly on opening day.”

Connecting the various pieces of technology needed for Smugglers Run created bugs that needed to be fixed and impediments that needed to be removed.

“That can keep you up at night,” Trowbridge says during the filming of the documentary. “I can tell you we’ve solved those problems. Almost.”

Interested in stepping up your civic involvement? Fountain Valley city officials are looking for volunteers who are interested in serving on the following committees, commissions and boards.

Planning Commission

The Planning Commission makes recommendations to the City Council about development within the city, subdivision of land, blighted and substandard areas of the city, zoning and land use. The Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month in the City Council chambers.

Fountain Valley Community Foundation

The Community Foundation was organized for charitable purposes including soliciting, receiving, investing and making grants of funds, property and other resources. The Foundation also provides direct charitable services to aid, sponsor, promote and assist worthy activities, programs and services in the city. Experience working with nonprofit organizations is desirable. The Community Foundation meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month in the Senior Center conference room.

Housing & Community Development Advisory Board

The Housing & Community Development Advisory Board reviews the city’s Federal Block Grant program and makes recommendations to the City Council on housing and community development issues. The board meets at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month in the City Council chambers.

Advisory Committee for the Disabled

The primary functions of the Advisory Committee for the Disabled are to help develop barrier-free access to buildings and facilities in the city; provide information about recreation programs for people who are disabled; develop community awareness of the employment potential of people with disabilities; and inform the community about the needs of the disabled population. The Advisory Committee for the Disabled meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of odd-numbered months in City Hall, conference room No. 1.

Measure HH Oversight Committee

The Measure HH Oversight Committee reviews the city’s annual audited financial statement; mid-year budget report; and proposed annual general fund operating budget in regard to the receipt and expenditure of the fiscal year’s 1% transactions and sales tax revenue as it relates to Fountain Valley’s “Responsible Spending Pledge.” The committee will report its findings to the public and at City Council annually. Meetings are called as needed.

Applications for these positions are available in the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 10200 Slater Ave., or online at fountainvalley.org.

Appointees will serve two-year terms, unless otherwise stated. Candidates for appointment must be residents of Fountain Valley and at least 18 years old. The deadline to submit an application to the City Clerk is 5 p.m. Jan. 7.

It may not be common knowledge, but it is common practice. Shelters around the country, including OC Animal Care, release thousands of cats a year into the great outdoors.

In a separate and widely recognized effort called “Trap-Neuter-Return,” volunteers round up feral cats for sterilization, afterward returning them to their stomping grounds. Feral cats, who grow up “wild” without human contact, generally do not make good house pets.

Yet the less publicized project, “Release to Field,” involves even people-friendly cats – dropped off at shelters rather than purposefully captured. Rapidly growing in popularity, the program sets strays free in the location they were found after vaccinations and neutering.

OC Animal Care spokeswoman Jessica Novillo said the program “has become a nationwide best-practice,” reducing euthanasia of “healthy, social adult strays with no known owner information.”

Earlier this year, OC Animal Care heralded 2018 as “historic,” saying it was able to save 73% of its cat population. Before Release to Field gained momentum, that statistic was reversed – with 75% of cats euthanized at the shelter in 2009.

In the first six months of 2019, 788 of 4,607 impounded cats were resettled in their former environs, according to OC Animal Care. About twice that many were adopted out.

Release to Field is supported by the influential American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which says on its website such programs “provide life-saving options for cats.”

Three times a week, volunteers with the Stray Cat Alliance collect dozens of felines from OC Animal Care to put back in the very places they were nabbed just days before.

The workers distribute pamphlets in those neighborhoods explaining the procedure, which includes nicking cats’ ears as an indicator that they have been neutered.

“We are not dumping – we are returning,” said the nonprofit’s founder, Christi Metropole, a Los Angeles-area Realtor.

But for residents previously unfamiliar with the operation, the sight of someone pulling over to spring a cat from a crate can be alarming – especially since pet owners are commonly warned to keep their animals safe from coyotes.

At a recent City Council meeting, two Old Town Tustin residents shared their dismay over spotting what one speaker described as “poor animals left to starve and freeze.”

Darlene Savord told council members she discovered five cats with clipped ears roaming about.

“These kitties were rubbing up against us,” Savord said. “They don’t know how to go out and fend for themselves. This is coyote bait. Feral cats – I get it. They can survive and they reduce the rodent population.”

Lynda Chavarela added she would “rather have a cat euthanized in a peaceful way” than exposed to the elements.

While located in Tustin, OC Animal Care actually falls under the jurisdiction of the county. It serves 14 cities, as well as unincorporated areas.

It opened a new 10-acre, $35 million facility in 2018 – replacing a World War II-era pound in Santa Ana, long run-down and disparaged.

“I was thrilled to see the kill rate decrease in recent years,” said Cherie Anderson, a volunteer at Santa Ana-based MeeowzResQ. “I thought the shelter was turning the corner. But then we found out why. They are moving cats out of the shelter and off their books to die somewhere else.”

In October, a handful of local cat rescue organizations, including Meeowz, jointly sent OC Animal Care a letter demanding it “stop abandoning thousands of healthy adoptable cats and kittens onto the streets.”

“Release to Field is a bastardization of Trap-Neuter-Release,” said animal rights attorney Christine Kelly, who represents the rescues. “In this case, they’re just dumping domesticated animals.”

The next step could be a lawsuit, Kelly said: “That would be the last option. It’s up to my clients.”

“The shelter doesn’t keep track of what becomes of these cats,” said Carol Barnes, also a volunteer at Meeowz. “No one has statistics on how many are hit by cars or eaten by coyotes. If I dumped a cat, it would be illegal.”

Anderson, like many cat lovers, believes OC Animal Care should harbor animals until they are adopted. However, some experts view that suggestion as unrealistic.

“There are many, many more cats than there are people to adopt them,” said veterinarian Kate Hurley, director of the shelter medicine program at UC Davis.

In the 1990s, Hurley worked as a Santa Cruz animal control officer. She estimates she euthanized about 3,000 cats over six years.

“It was soul crushing,” she said. “But I really believed it was the right thing to do. Back then, the philosophy was: Let’s just kill this cat to keep it from getting hit by a car later.’”

But after surveying high-kill rates at shelters across the country, Hurley did a 180: “That is the wrong approach.”

A pioneer in the Release to Field movement, Hurley advocates that cats delivered to shelters by well-meaning people should, as often as possible, go right back where they came from – after being sterilized, vaccinated and chipped.

For one thing, very few owners go looking for their missing cats at shelters.

“They tend to assume the cat was eaten by a coyote,” Hurley said. “Cats are 10 times more likely to be reunited with owners in their own neighborhoods. Shelters are not good places for cats.”

From January to July of this year, only 80 cats – less than 2% – were retrieved by owners at OC Animal Care. By comparison, one-third of 2,912 impounded dogs were claimed.

Also, felines can appear to be stray when they’re not, Metropole said: “Cat’s don’t get lost.They know where they are and they know where they’re going.”

And, Hurley said, wandering cats are often “community cats” – fed by a variety of patrons while keeping rodents in check.

“They’re not like domesticated dogs, who thrive on constant human companionship,” Hurley said. “Stray cats are just living their lives, albeit with more hazards.”

Release to Field has been a godsend for shelters, Metropole said. “It’s not fair to ask workers to kill healthy cats day in and day out.”

The program “allows the shelter to focus on finding homes for those cats that cannot be returned,” said OC Animal Care’s Novillo. Many strays don’t qualify for Release to Field because their points of origin cannot be verified.

Hurley said she understands why the program might seem counter-intuitive and worrisome to people who don’t understand the rationale.

“It’s not a panacea,” Hurley concluded. “But it is one answer.”

For five nights, the Newport Harbor will glisten as more than 100 boats draped in decorations weave through the water to the delight of spectators.

But this is no ordinary boat parade.

More than a million people flock to the seaside town annually to get glimpses of the holiday spectacle, standing shoulder-to-shoulder along public docks and walkways or snagging coveted restaurant reservations as early as September to watch while dining.

The competition among the boat owners is fierce, some spending tens of thousands of dollars decking out their vessels for extravagant shows on the sea.

Whether you are a boater looking to nab one of the brag-worthy awards, a spectator watching for the first time or a long-time attendee looking for new ways to enjoy the parade, here are some tips and tricks for navigating the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, which kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 18 and runs through Dec. 22.

Sailing from past to present

It all started with an Italian gondolier, John Scarpa, who would take tourists around the then-empty bay for rides. One night in 1908, near the holidays, he strung lanterns on his gondola and others in small boats started following him around.

“It wasn’t organized and didn’t really take off. It didn’t even have a name,” said David Beek, in his 15th year as a co-chairman of the parade.

Beek’s grandfather, Joseph Allan Beek, visited Newport from Pasadena, where he enjoyed watching the Tournament of Roses parade each year. After moving to the area to help build up Balboa Island he came up with an idea: Let’s bring a “tournament of lights” parade, a summertime event, to go around the harbor.

“Instead of floats and flowers, you decorated boats for summer and it took off,” David Beek said.

It was just after WWII and the city’s Chamber of Commerce was becoming more established. By that time, more people started living in the town full time, rather than using Newport solely as a vacation spot for summers and holidays.

Meanwhile, around holiday time, Joseph Allan Beek put a Christmas tree on the front of the Balboa Island ferry, which this year turned 100, and invited city employees to come aboard and sing carols. Like the gondolier decades before, other boaters started to follow.

Chamber officials soon determined if they could shift the summer light parade to be a holiday parade, they could draw more people to town to go to restaurants and stay in hotels during the slower winter season.

By the ’50s, the boat parade starting handing out awards to stand-out participants – and then the competition got heated.

“We started making it judged,” Beek said. “It got bigger and bigger and bigger.”

It is so big today that some boat owners spend weeks adorning their entries with elaborate decorations. That includes the Last Hurrah, an 80-foot yacht that takes three weeks to decorate and involves the use of a 150-foot crane.

“There’s everything from that, to the guys who spend $20 at Home Depot for a string of lights on their boats,” Beek said.

The largest boat this year is the lead boat, Burning Daylight, which tops out over 85 feet. Panda is the shortest boat at 18 feet, though a 14-foot kayak is also on the list of participants.

All together on the water, it is quite the sight, Beek said.

“The lighted boats on the background, reflecting on the water and going around the entire perimeter of the water – it’s pretty cool,” he said.

How to win

If there’s one boater who knows how to nab first place, it’s Greg Killingsworth, who has claimed nine awards in the last decade.

The Modjeska Canyon resident, originally from Long Beach, put on multimillion-dollar corporate events for 30 years before he retired. So he knows how to go big – and fire is a big attention grabber.

Many people will recognize his boat, not just from the flames, but because there’s one common fixture each year: a big blow-up Snoopy.

The first few years Killingsworth won the “music on the water” awards, and in recent years he’s nabbed first place for originality and humor, as well as the coveted grand sweepstakes (non commercial) award.

“We kept adding a little more and a little more,” Killingsworth said. “We introduced fire on the water with a space heater and a beam of fire. Then we decided to go big — I brought a dinosaur.”

The dinosaur is 20 feet tall and breathes fire.

Years past have included a “Salute to the Duke,” telling the story of John Wayne, and there was one year with a Snoopy surfing theme. “Rumble in the Jungle,” last year, gave the parade route an ’80s rock edge, the Guns N’ Roses hit blaring on the water night after night.

This year Killingsworth has a new boat, a 40-footer, along with a new and improved Snoopy – Snoopy 2.0 he calls him — to go with this year’s theme: “Snoopy’s Cowboy Christmas.”

“It’s more about Snoopy getting back to the roots of America,” Killingsworth said, noting he was inspired by neighbor and country music singer Rusty Richards, who will be on the boat the first night of the parade. “It still has cool effects. We actually have more effects, a horse shooting flames, a big fire pit with campfire and the cactus behind Snoopy, which is set to, on cue, shoot fire.”

“Safety is number one,” he said, noting he has several fire extinguishers strategically placed around his boat.

What is it that keeps Killingsworth coming back year after year? It’s not only about the competition.

“You have to be on the boat experiencing the joy of all of the kids when they see Snoopy, their eyes light up like saucers,” he said. “Also adults — he’s everybody’s hero.”

What’s one of his insider tips to navigating the parade? “Fill your gas tank up,” he said.

Killingsworth made the gas tank goof a few years back, his boat drifting toward land as everyone passed around him. He had to call SeaTow for help, struggling to rejoin the parade.

“It was so stupid,” he said with a chuckle. “Who doesn’t check the gas tank when you go out to the parade?”

Beek had one other important tip for boaters who want to earn an award: Be consistent.

Don’t veer off course during the 14-mile route and finish the parade each of the five nights — for the entire 2 1/2 hours — to earn nods from the judges.

“The ones that step up and are consistent and do the entire parade route …  those people are usually the ones getting recognized, as they should,” he said. “The judges are watching.”

How to view the parade

There’s a variety of ways to watch the parade, said Erin Rose, senior director of communications for Newport & Company, the city’s tourism bureau. There are 53 viewing stations dotting the harbor as well as 20 boat charters so people can be close to the parade, she said.

Killingsworth noted that public docks are a great place to post up, because they stick out in the water, close to the passing boats.

A popular place to watch in recent years has been Marina Park, which has a strip of sand and a grassy area where people can pull up chairs or towels to watch.

About a dozen vendors will be set up at Marina Park on opening night, with fireworks planned for 6:15 p.m., a show that repeats on closing night. The opening night’s Grand Marshall, Christina Anstead — reality TV star of “Flip or Flop” and “Christina on the Coast” — will make an appearance at Marina Park before boarding the Grand Marshall boat.

Elsewhere, restaurants have really become involved in recent years, and now there are 13 designated “Dine and Watch” places, some serving boat parade prix fixe menus.

There are other little pockets where people can post up and watch, including Pirates Cove at Corona del Mar — near the harbor entrance; from Inspiration Point and other lookout areas; or near the rock jetty at West Jetty Park.

Boat charters are especially fun because you are “up close and personal,” Rose said. There’s everything from larger boats such as those from Davey’s Locker or Duffy boat rentals for smaller groups.

“Or you can let it be an excuse to have a holiday stay-cation,” Rose said. “You can really make a weekend out of it.”

Another way to watch is to walk around Balboa Island — the “Ring of Lights” — where the houses are just as elaborately decked out as the boats, some homeowners matching their houses to their vessels.

“They have their own competition as well,” Rose said. “You really get a two for one.”

If you want to go to Balboa Island, consider parking elsewhere and using a rideshare service to get onto the island or across Pacific Coast Highway and walk on the pedestrian bridge. Traffic and parking can be a challenge, Killingsworth advises.

Each night’s parade starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends about 9, with the fireworks show on the first and last night starting at 6:15 p.m.

And the last tip: Don’t forget to pack a sweater, the harbor can be chilly at night.

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If you haven’t started making your plans on how to celebrate the arrival of 2020, we’ve compiled what Southern California’s casinos are offering.

We’ve rounded up a total of 25 different New Year’s Eve things to do, from live entertainment to cash giveaways and beyond. Read more. (And next week we’ll have your NYE dining options.)

More casino news

4 things to do at Southern California casinos (Dec. 13-19)

ICYMI: Where to eat Christmas dinner at Southern California Casinos 

Beyond Southern California… 

30 years ago the best way to get foot traffic to your business on the Las Vegas strip was to be located within a casino, but things appear to be changing. Now, retail space and strip malls outside of the casinos are often the preferred spaces for retailers and restaurants, according to this New York Times article.

By MARK KENNEDY

NEW YORK  — Danny Aiello, the blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in “Fort Apache, the Bronx,” “Moonstruck” and “Once Upon a Time in America” and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” has died. He was 86.

Aiello (pronounced eye-YEL-o) died Thursday night after a brief illness, said his publicist, Tracey Miller, who runs Tracey Miller & Associates. “The family asks for privacy at this time,” she said in a statement.

In a tweet, Cher mourned the man she called “a genius comedic actor.” The two had starred in “Moonstruck” and she called it “one of the happiest times in my life.” Actor Michael Rapaport tweeted that Aiello was a “huge inspiration” and actor Kirk Acevedo mourned: “We lost a great actor today.”

Recognizable, if not famous, for his burly build and husky voice, he was an ex-union president who broke into acting in his 30s and remained a dependable player for decades, whether vicious or cuddly or some of each.

His breakthrough, ironically, was as the hapless lover dumped by Cher in Norman Jewison’s hit comedy “Moonstruck.” His disillusion contributed to the laughter, and although he wasn’t nominated for a supporting-role Oscar (Cher and Olympia Dukakis won in their categories), Aiello was inundated with movie offers.

“Living in New York City gave me training for any role,” he said in a 1997 interview. “I’ve seen people killed, knifed. I’ve got scars on my face. I have emotional recall when I work; the idea is simply to recreate it. I’ve seen it and experienced it. I’ve played gangsters, teachers but most of my work has been in the police area. And for that I’m adored by the police in New York City.”

The ebullient Aiello became a favorite of several directors, among them Woody Allen, who used him in the Broadway play “The Floating Light Globe” and the movies “Broadway Danny Rose,” “The Purple Rose of Cairo” and “Radio Days.”

Lee was another admirer and for “Do the Right Thing” cast Aiello as a pizzeria operator in a black neighborhood of Brooklyn, the movie climaxing with a riot that destroys his eatery. “This is my pizzeria!” he cried. Lee had first offered the role to Robert De Niro, but Aiello’s performance brought him an Oscar nomination for supporting actor.

Among his other movies: “Fort Apache, the Bronx” (as a cop who threw a boy from a building), “Once Upon a Time in America,” “Harlem Nights,” “Jack Ruby” (as Ruby) and”City Hall.” He also appeared in TV miniseries, including “The Last Don,” “A Woman Named Jackie” and in the 1985-86 police series “Lady Blue.” It was Aiello who played Madonna’s father in the pop icon’s “Papa Don’t Preach” video.

A child of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, Aiello retained the pugnacity he learned on city streets.

“During the early times in my acting career, I would fight at the drop of a hat,” he said in 1985. “I was very hungry. If there were obstacles, I tried to remove them.” He added that sometimes he engaged in fistfights with actors after work because of incidents during filming or rehearsals.

Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. was born June 20, 1933, to Italian parents. His father, a laborer, left the family of seven children, and Daniel started working at age 9 selling newspapers, working in a grocery store and bowling alley, shining shoes and loading trucks. In his teenage years, he joined a street gang and, he claimed, engaged in burglary and safe-cracking. He dropped out of high school before graduating, got married in 1955 and joined the Army.

After three years in the service, he worked at several factory jobs, landing as a baggage man at Greyhound. The ambitious Aiello rose to become president of the transit union.

“I wanted to become a politician,” he told a reporter in 1995. “I always thought that I could talk, that people liked me, that I can represent them.” But when Greyhound accused him of starting a wildcat strike and the union leaders agreed, Aiello quit his job.

He worked at one job after another, and in 1970 was hired as a bouncer at the New York comedy club, Improvisation. One night, he was asked to act as an assistant emcee. “It was no big deal; it was just ‘Danny, go up and announce the acts,’” he recalled in 1997. “There was a little bantering between acts, and I kept that short. I was terrified.”

Yet Aiello soon branched out, playing small roles in the movies “Bang the Drum Slowly” and “The Godfather, Part II,” and as the bartender lead in a musical play “Lamppost Reunion.” Starting in 1980 he averaged three films a year, plus appearances in theater and television. Off-Broadway, he appeared in “The Shoemaker” in 2011.

Aiello and his wife of more than 60 years, Sandy, lived in Ramsey, New Jersey. He also is survived by three children and 10 grandchildren: Rick, Jamie and Stacy. A fourth son, stuntman and stunt coordinator Danny Aiello III, died in May 2010 of pancreatic cancer.

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NEWPORT BEACH — Mater Dei used its length and ball movement to overpower Edison 82-36 on Friday in the semifinals of the Beach Bash boys basketball tournament at Corona del Mar High.

The top-ranked Monarchs outrebounded No. 17 Edison 26-16 and had assists on 20 of their 33 field goals. Kentucky commit Devin Askew led the ball movement for Mater Dei, as he tallied nine assists.

“We’ve been sharing the ball,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said. “We have six guys averaging double-figures scoring and they all share the ball. A lot of the guys could probably score a lot more, but they move the ball well.”

Many of Askew’s assists were to 6-foot-9 junior Wilhelm Breidenbach, who had a team-high 14 points and grabbed six rebounds for led Mater Dei (5-0).

“They are dynamite,” McKnight said of the two players. “That’s why one is probably going to Stanford and one is going to Kentucky. They play really well together.”

Mater Dei will play No. 5 Pacifica Christian in the championship game of the tournament Saturday at Corona del Mar High.

Edison (6-3) only trailed 13-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the Monarchs went on a 17-2 run to open the second quarter and take a 20-point lead. Breidenbach had six points during the run and Ryan Evans made two 3-pointers. Mater Dei outscored Edison 23-7 in the quarter.

Mater Dei’s length made it difficult for Edison to get clean looks at the basket. The shortest Mater Dei starter is 6-4 and the Monarchs play three players who are over 6-8.

Despite the Monarchs’ length, Edison forward Connor Collins had a game-high 18 points and made six 3-pointers. The Chargers made 9 3-pointers as a team and had assists on 10 of their 12 made shots.

“They shoot the ball real well,” McKnight said of Edison. “Our length probably bothered them a lot because they had to shoot over tall bodies. They beat a good Santa Barbara team the other night and look good. Rich (Boyce) does a good job coaching them.”

Aidan Prukop and Evans scored 13 and 12 points, respectively. Logan Cremonesi led the Monarchs with eight rebounds.

When asked to serve on a local nonprofit board, the request is often taken as a compliment, and an answer comes with little thought about the potential personal risk you’re accepting as a board member. Individuals willing to serve as a board member are usually known for their passion and support of vital community programs.

Once you prove yourself as a reliable and committed board member, you’ll be asked repeatedly to serve. Reliable board members are known throughout the community as an asset.

Prior to committing to board service, familiarize yourself with the culture, governance, and finances. Take some time to do your research and ask about the organization. Before you agree to serve, consider the following:

Are you willing to fully commit as a board member?

Never agree to serve without asking questions first. Do you believe in the organization’s cause? Are you willing to put your personal interests aside when voting on the issues brought to the board? Do you have the time and resources to support the nonprofit’s mission? Are you prepared to donate, seek sponsors, and fundraise?

Also, before accepting the opportunity make sure you are serving for the right reason. And if you don’t have the time or desire to fully commit, or you question the integrity of the organization, respectfully decline the invitation.

Have you done your due diligence?

Even if you are fully willing, never commit to serve on a board without spending some time researching the organization. Don’t assume that, because board members are personal friends, that the organization is well-managed. Often board members don’t ask questions, especially when it comes to finances.

Review the bylaws, current financial statements, and recent board meeting minutes, and attend a meeting or two to observe before signing on. Are the meetings run professionally? Do the board members seem engaged and are they asking good questions? Are the financial statements current?

If you are interested in joining the board after observing how the meetings are managed and the data presented, then ask the following:

• Does the board host an annual board orientation to which new and returning board members are invited?
• Is there a history of board minutes documenting communications to the board to keep the governing body apprised of programs, major contractual agreements, staffing changes, threatened or ongoing litigation, and finances?
• Is there an employee handbook and other written employment policies?
• Are there any prior or pending lawsuits?
• Does the organization have appropriate annual audit reports?
• Is the board apprised of the steps in place to protect the nonprofit and its governing team?
• How are board members held accountable for their commitments?
• Is the board educated on their responsibility to disclose actual and potential conflicts of interest? Is there a written conflict of interest policy?

Is the organization properly insured?

What risk management practices does the organization have to prevent or minimize exposure to litigation? The organization should carry general and professional liability coverage, and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. Sometimes a board will carry general liability and professional liability insurance but will not purchase directors’ and officers’ insurance. If you plan on serving on a nonprofit board, always ask if a current D & O policy is in place. Remember, board members have personal exposure. Directors’ and officers’ insurance helps mitigate that risk.

Nonprofit executive directors have many and varied daily responsibilities. In addition to managing their staff, they manage finances, engage donors, and serve those in need. Their focus is naturally on implementing the organization’s mission, so they may not give due attention to managing the risk to which board members are exposed. Know your risk Treat the organization like a business and confirm that the insurance is appropriate and in place.

Serving as a board member for a nonprofit organization can be rewarding when you understand the benefits to your community. Make sure that you have the time, commitment to the cause, and adequate protection against risk so that you can focus on helping fulfill the mission.

Teri Parker CFP is a vice president for CAPTRUST Financial Advisors and has practiced in the field of financial planning and investment management since 2000. Email her at Teri.parker@captrust.com.

In California – the limited liability company or LLC is the most common way most commercial real estate is owned.

Individuals within an LLC are known as members. Members are governed by an operating agreement that outlines whom within the LLC are authorized to sell, buy, and borrow. Also, percentages of ownership are specified in the case of multiple members.

Why an LLC? Because they come with a multitude of tax advantages and liability protection, which are beyond the scope of this column. However, as commercial real estate practitioners we encounter some pretty hairy issues involving LLC ownership.

Waking a grizzly

Annual fees must be paid to the Franchise Tax Board and tax returns must be filed each year with the state of California. If not, the LLC may be declared inactive. To re-activate an LLC is akin to awakening a hibernating grizzly.

We once experienced an LLC that owned a parcel of commercial real estate and was allowed to lapse — for 33 years! Now, the owner wanted to sell but couldn’t. You see the individual with whom we were dealing was not the owner because the title was vested as the LLC. Therefore, with an inactive LLC the individual member couldn’t sign a listing engagement, execute a purchase and sale agreement, or transact any business until the past returns were completed and overdue due fees paid.

Fortunately, no income had been reported through the LLC thus no taxes were owed. Therefore, it was a matter of preparing tax returns dating back to 1986 and forking over 33 years of filing fees along with interest and penalties in the tens of thousands of dollars. Oy vey!

Who’s in the mirror

Frequently, we experience an LLC-owned building occupied by a business. Even though the entities of ownership may vary, the individuals of each entity are synonymous. In a recent case, two of the three members of the building ownership LLC had died over a period of time and the business corporation was sold to the employees. A difference of objectives was formed and the occupying company needed less space or cheaper rent. The LLC — now comprised of four heirs and an original member — wanted a maximum return from the investment.

So now what? The LLC sold the building and the business relocated to a smaller facility.

But we are divorced

So you’ve split up. Sadly, your real estate ownership may not be.

In a particularly nasty situation, we were thrust between LLC members — an ex-husband and wife. The only remaining joint asset was a piece of commercial real estate once occupied by a business they operated. While still married, the business was sold while the real estate retained, providing good cash flow for the couple. When the two divorced they wanted to sell the building.

The problem was the divorcees also wanted to defer the taxes from the sale. The solution was a risky tactic known as a “drop and swap.” The title was changed to tenants-in-common from the LLC. This change in ownership allowed the individual members — divorced husband and wife — to go their own ways. Please seek legal counsel and tax advice before attempting this.

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at abuchanan@lee-associates.com or 714.564.7104.

Often overlooked in home staging are some tricks that you can use to accentuate the vertical features of your home.

Many sellers are consumed with decorating the tops of all of the counters, cabinets and all flat surfaces available, because (1) it’s easy; (2) it’s accessible; and (3) you have tons of things that fit on the flat surfaces.

When you are staging your house to get it sold, you really want to accentuate the vertical spaces so buyers can fully appreciate all of the height and light your home has to offer.

Here are a few tips to draw attention from countertops to the walls and the ceilings.

Plants:  There are a variety of trees, potted plants, hanging baskets and floral arrangements you can use to bring the buyer’s eye up from the counters to the ceiling. Tall potted trees framing the front door immediately draw the buyers’ eyes up to the full height of your entry.

The trick here is to select the right height, and the rule of thumb is to go as tall as possible without going past the height of the front door. You certainly don’t want to stop halfway. You really want to go tall here.

If you can’t find tall trees, or don’t have room for them, consider hanging potted plants of fire-colored flowers on either side of the front door. Again, you want to draw the buyer’s eye to the height of the door and entry.

Floral arrangements can also be helpful on your counters and cabinets to bring the attention up from waist or chest level. You can choose fresh flowers or an arrangement of artificial flowers (as long as they look real) with long stems in a tall vase.

Artwork:  Replace all of the 8-by-10- and 10-by-12-inch family portraits you currently have hanging above your counters and cabinets with large pieces of art.

Stores like Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, Stein Mart, Ikea, and At Home are fabulous resources for reasonably priced large format canvas artwork. Don’t worry about the subject matter in the art; just focus on the color palette, the vertical orientation, and the size.

Take into consideration your ceiling height. You don’t want the art to touch the ceiling, you just want it to approach the edge of the ceiling with a reasonable amount of clearance.

Paint:  Rooms with dark paint typically appear smaller and more closed-in than those sporting lighter paint.

Take a look around your house and see if you can add more vertical interest by repainting a wall or entire room in a fresh, light color. Especially if you’ve found a fabulous piece of art you can play with, painting the walls to match.

Then voila! Your house now looks bigger and taller.

Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is an agent with Realty One Group. She can be reached at 949-678-3373 or leslie@leslieeskildsen.com.

At the 2,700-year-old birthplace of the Olympics — where Nike was a revered goddess, not a shoe — I push off the stadium’s original starting block and thrillingly run in ancient footsteps of naked Greek men. I never could’ve touched this dirt track eons ago. If I had, I might’ve suffered the punishment — being hurled from the cliff of nearby Mount Typaeum into the swirling river below. Back then, women were banned from even watching the Olympic Games.

All morning I’ve been exploring ruins of this hallowed sanctuary of Olympia, home to the world’s most eminent sporting event for 12 long-gone centuries. I’ll stroll by pedestals once inscribed with names of cheater athletes (fined and possibly flogged) and stand among earthquake-tossed remnants of the massive Temple of Zeus. Bearded, chief Greek god Zeus was the top Olympic celebrity. Somewhere between say, the javelin throw and punching-choking-kicking pankration match, 100 oxen were slaughtered and sacrificed to Zeus’ enormous four-story-tall ivory-and-gold likeness beside his altar of animal ashes.

Ancient Greece grips you. I know because Olympia is just one legendary stop on my nine-day, 1,000-mile archaeology-focused road trip here. While sun-bathing vacationers jam-pack the idyllic Greek islands, I’m on a brainy journey trekking over monumental history on the mainland. With my small-group Exodus Travels tour, I’ll comb through sword-and-sandal civilizations (including seven UNESCO World Heritage sites), dive into fascinating mystical cults (the kooky fortune-telling oracle in Delphi) and climb sky-high in sensational Meteora, a medieval monastic enclave teetering atop soaring rock pinnacles.

Some of our itinerary is thinly visited by tourists, although we begin in bustling Athens at the iconic Acropolis crowned with the Parthenon. Here I’m introduced to a fabled dizzying cast of Greek deities, depicted on everything antiquated from roof gables to perfume bottles buried with corpses for the afterlife. Dionysos, god of wine and booze-fueled dancing, is the popular party boy.

Unlike capital Athens, Olympia’s archaeological site is surrounded by an endearingly tiny town with one main street lined with tavernas, evil eye-repelling charms, colorful flags of nations and shops selling mini Zeus statues and donkey milk soap. Theme-dubbed lodging includes Hotel Olympic Torch and Hotel Hercules, but we stay in Hotel Pelops, christened for the great god who was chopped into pieces by his father and cooked in a stew. Resurrected Pelops later murdered his king future father-in-law by sabotaging his chariot. It was that or Pelops’ spiked head was going to be tacked to the palace wall.

“Ah, always there is tragedy in Greece. There is always drama,” affirms my Greek Exodus guide, Eva Karaventza.

The Olympics, which began in 776 B.C., always had a sacred flame flickering during the Games throughout their 1,200 years in the sanctuary. Since 1936 the flame for the modern-day Olympics is lit on enduring Hera’s Altar, before being toted in the torch relay to the international host city.

In town, after stuffing myself on spanakopita, I have just bought a souvenir torch-emblem T-shirt from a shopkeeper fittingly named Olympia when another merchant beckons me into her Apollo jewelry store.

“Please come in! My brother ran with the torch in the Olympics several times,”  enthuses Catarina Galanis, and soon I’m clutching the 1980 torch her sibling carried in the Moscow-bound relay. “We are very very proud in my village.”

Another day, we amble through stony ruins of Corinth, the wealthy fast-and-loose city of love goddess Aphrodite. “It was like the ancient Greek Las Vegas,” Eva explains. Ritual prostitution was supposedly practiced with “worshippers.” Corinth women were beauty-obsessed; the museum displays their cosmetic secrets, including 2,000-year-old bronze tweezers to pluck eyebrows darkened with black coal.

Elsewhere, I get a sense of the ancient HMO by wandering around Epidaurus, formerly a healing center of hospitals and sanatoriums dedicated to physician god Asclepius, who mysteriously cured sleeping patients on the premises by touching their bellies and toes. Much is gone now; the highlight is the still-used well-preserved 12,000-seat theater with excellent acoustics, constructed in the 4th century B.C. Watching theatrical plays was part of treatment. “Especially for the mentally ill, it was cathartic and would help them forget their problems,” Eva says. Asclepius is typically shown holding a rod with a snake coiled around it — today’s emblem of the American Medical Association.

There’s more to unearth. In 3-millennia-old crumbling Mycenae, we enter through the citadel’s Lion Gate near boulder-stacked walls that many Greeks thought were built by Cyclops. Below us is a “grave circle” that contained royal tombs of elite dead men whose faces were covered by chiseled gold masks. Moving on, our group of 16 is nearly alone in little-visited ancient Messene, at the foot of a forested peak where rescued baby Zeus was raised by nymphs. (“Zeus’ father had a crazy habit of eating his children,” Eva notes.) This extinct community is impressive — I jog across the grass in the U-shaped stadium where gladiator fights took place during the Roman period and linger by the colonnaded gym where nude olive oil-slicked wrestlers grappled.

Finally, in sprawling “navel of the world” Delphi, we mere mortals peer at a half-dozen Doric columns and foundations of lore-steeped Apollo’s Temple, beautifully nestled amid majestic mountains and lush olive groves. The temple was headquarters for oracle Pythia, an all-powerful real woman who advised Greece’s bigwigs on waging war and other matters. Pythia was believed to be the mouthpiece for god Apollo, although some scholars suspect her delirious babbling may be due to inadvertently inhaling gases from the earth.

Delphi’s museum also houses wonders, such as a bronze life-size glass-eyed charioteer and a temple pediment portraying the Gigantomachy, a battle between the gods and brutal giants. The Gigantomachy is a familiar motif we see elsewhere. So is the Amazonomachy, a clash between gods and fierce women warriors. Very sci-fi.

Our quick-paced trip leaps through centuries — we admire Byzantine frescoed churches, a 3,300-year-old excavated bathtub, an 18th-century castle where a revolutionary Greek general was imprisoned in a dank hole. And then we end on an exceptionally serene, spiritual high.

Meteora is an astonishing hub of Greek Orthodox monasteries, fastened atop prehistoric sandstone spires vaulting up to 1,200 feet above ground. Starting in the Middle Ages, to avoid persecution from invaders, reclusive monks used ropes and nets to ferry materials and somehow build 24 clifftop holy hideaways. “The hermits were considered the first free climbers,” Eva half-jokes.

We trudge up stone steps, carved in the 1920s, to one of six mural-adorned still-active monasteries. The views are heavenly. And if it looks familiar, that’s because of Hollywood — not Greek — history. James Bond climatically scaled the vertical rock face to a Meteora monastery in the movie “For Your Eyes Only” and the surreal setting inspired the Eyrie kingdom in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

If you go

Exodus Travels offers the nine-day “Highlights of Ancient Greece” trip multiple times through 2020. Prices from $2,099 (also check for sales) include transportation by mini-bus, hotels, breakfasts and archaeological tour guide. Maximum 16 guests. Information: exodustravels.com

An 80-year-old man died in a collision with a 25-year-old suspected drunk driver in Fullerton on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Police arrested the younger man on suspicion of DUI, said Fullerton police Lt. Jon Radus in a news release.

At about 3 p.m., the elderly driver was in his 1964 Chevrolet Malibu SS heading north on Raymond Avenue and making a left turn onto Orangefair Lane, police said. As he made the turn, a 2015 Ram 1500 pickup truck driving south on Raymond Avenue “at a high rate of speed” slammed into the Malibu.

Officers arriving on scene found the Malibu with significant damage to its passenger side and the Ram truck with serious front end damage, lying upside down. Police believe the truck had rolled over multiple times.

Paramedics pronounced the 80-year-old driver of the Malibu dead at the scene.  Before he was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death, the driver of the Ram truck was transported to a local hospital with moderate injuries.

Police did not immediately release the drivers’ names.