Mater Dei basketball junior point guard Devin Askew has committed to Kentucky.
Askew, 6-4, averaged 14 points and seven assists a game last season. He was third on the Monarchs in 3-pointers with 49.
Askew was All-Orange County first team and was selected to the All-CIF Open Division team and the All-Trinity League first team.
He had scholarship offers from many top college programs.
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Fans of Asian cuisine will soon have a new spot to enjoy it at Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa when restaurant Mozen has its full opening later this month.
The restaurant, which will serve Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean cuisines, will boast two different atmospheres in the same space. There will be a fast service side where guests will be able to grab items such as banh mi and boba quickly before heading back to the slots or to a show, and there will be a full service restaurant for guests who want to take in the ambiance and the food at a more leisurely pace. Read more.
More casino news
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians gets approval for Cathedral City casino
5 things to do at Southern California casinos this week (Oct. 18-24)
Beyond Southern California…
Thousands of people packed the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday for the second day of the Global Gaming Expo, and the star attraction was the expo center floor where guests could check out cutting edge slot machines and table games. This year the trend was slot machines with large displays and high resolution graphics, according to this Las Vegas Review-Journal article.
It’s been looking dire for people who like to watch something different in movie theaters.
For most of the year, and especially the summer just past, what are called specialty films – independently produced, foreign language and carefully distributed movies that more-or-less cover intelligent, adult themes in realistic ways – just couldn’t seem to get a break.
Overhyped (and priced) titles such as “Booksmart” and “Late Night” disappointed big at the box office. Even some touted “successes” like “The Farewell” and “Midsommar” grossed millions less than equivalent indie hits of years past. None of 2019’s Boomer music documentaries came close to matching “Won’t You Be My Neighbor’s?’s” $23 million, 2018 haul.
The list went on, And when word filtered out that L.A.’s 81-year-old specialty theater chain Laemmle might be seeking a buyer, many feared that big studio blockbusters and metastasizing video streaming services may finally be killing the serious moviegoing experience.
Well, now that we’re into the fall awards season, it’s safe to say that they haven’t killed it. Yet.
“The indie film sector is as viable and important to the industry as ever, but the volatility of that marketplace is undeniable,” observed Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at the Sherman Oaks media metrics outfit Comscore. “If you are betting your monthly nut on having indie films support your business, you’re like a boutique. You’re at the mercy of the content, and you never know from one year to the next or one quarter to the next whether you’re going to have a ‘Parasite’ or you’re going to have something that doesn’t perform.”
Bong Joon Ho’s class thriller “Parasite,” a massive hit in its native South Korea, earned the highest per screen averages of the year in its limited U.S. debut last weekend. That and other recent phenomena have caused even Greg Laemmle, the third generation head of the nine-theater, family-owned local chain, to sound optimistic.
“The numbers have been better lately, and that’s just a reflection of better films entering the marketplace,” said Laemmle, who added that he hopes to be able to report something in reference to the sale soon. “There have certainly been some misfires, but they were misfires relative to prices that had been paid at film festivals.”
And then there was the phenomenon that, although spun off of a TV series with a fervent, grownup fanbase and released wide by Universal’s specialty branch Focus Films, still became an unexpected blockbuster.
“ ‘Downton Abbey’ is getting close to $100 million,” Laemmle marveled. “Which is nuts if you think about it.”
Nuts, but exactly what the nation and world’s biggest theater chain, AMC, wants to see happen with films for grownups. Even as this summer’s indie box-office turned south, the multiplex maven initiated its AMC Artisan Films promotion program.
While the company has been joshed for including such mass-marketed, wide-release studio items as “Joker” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” among the “exceptional works of film” it’s highlighting in 75 data-targeted venues around the country (seven or so in Southern California), Artisan is also promoting the definitely arthouse likes of new releases “Jojo Rabbit” and “The Lighthouse” to AMC’s Stubs A-List program subscribers and other patrons who want to see something other than superpeople on screen.
“All of these amazing gems that don’t get noticed should be,” AMC’s VP for Content Strategy and Inclusive Programming Nikkole Denson-Randolph said of the Artisan strategy. “I’ve seen our business in this space double. Independent, specialized and culturally relevant films that are not your large tentpoles contribute a nice segment to our bottom line and overall growth. It’s not nominal.”
But it could be better. According to Tom Bernard, co-founder and -president of the Sony Pictures Classics specialty distribution division since 1991, American exhibitors need to do more with data-driven, internet outreach to let both casual arthouse moviegoers and devoted fans of certain directors, national cinemas and the like know when a film they want to see is coming to a theater near them.
“No one has reached out to all of the people who might want to go to the movies if they knew what was playing, and they don’t know what’s playing because the newspapers don’t have ads and critics anymore,” Bernard of the specialty fare, which predominantly opens on fewer screens on different dates in different parts of the country. “Theater owners should tell people by email that a movie is coming the week before it opens.
“They haven’t monetized their data to where they can reach individuals who have seen every Pedro Almodovar movie or who like new, cutting edge stuff,” continued Bernard, whose SPC is currently doing quite well with Spanish auteur Almodovar’s acclaimed latest, “Pain and Glory.” He believes information about “specialized movies should come to you on the internet just like all of the other things that do.”
Beside Laemmle and some AMC audtioriums, the highest-end, crossover potential indie films regularly play at ArcLight and Landmark venues in Southern California. The recently opened Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown L.A. combines them with geek-servicing programming. All of those operations, however, rely more heavily on commercial studio fare than Laemmle tends to.
And that leaves an exhibition space in the city that a number of (somewhat) new players are beginning to fill.
Film Independent, the organization that puts on the (Indie) Spirit Awards and recently ended its annual Los Angeles Film Festival, is taking its first step this weekend to more year-round programming with The New Wave. A combo of multidisciplinary events and panels as well as screenings, The New Wave will show a variety of acclaimed movies by women, including Alma Har’el’s Shia LaBeouf semiautobiographical “Honey Boy,” Downtown at the Museum of Contemporary Art starting Friday.
Jacqueline Lyanga, who formerly oversaw L.A.’s AFI Fest and is Film Independent’s new artistic director, is pursuing partnerships with organizations like MOCA, KCRW radio and others to diversify exhibition possibilities.
“We all have to experiment,” Lyanga said. “I don’t think anyone has the one answer just yet. It’s important that we keep working toward finding solutions to help films find their audiences. There is no guarantee that any one method is going to do that, will be that magic fix.”
Not far away in Historic Filipinotown, powerhouse filmmaker/producer/distributor Ava DuVernay recently opened the 50-seat, state-of-the-art Amanda Theater on the campus that houses her various, Array-branded operations. It’s currently showing a curated series of new and classic films, called Array 360, on weekends free to the public.
“It has some work that just came off the film festival circuit, like Cannes and Berlin, which most general people don’t get to go to,” Mercedes Cooper, programming director for the nonprofit Array Alliance, noted. The Amanda will also screen Array’s upcoming theatrical and Netflix release, 19-year-old award-winning filmmaker Phillip Youmans’ “Burning Cane,” next month.
“For going on 10 years now, the work of Array is to cultivate audiences around these small film gems,” Cooper said. “We’ve been doing it on the distribution level, Ava has been doing it with her production work, and now with our own exhibition space we hope to be able to cultivate audiences so independent film can move on.”
And up in Eagle Rock, the once iconic Santa Monica video store Vidiots plans to reopen in a storefront attached to the old Eagle Theatre, which the nonprofit plans to reopen for business as well in the fall of 2020.
While emphasizing that the 200-seat, restored 90-year-old Eagle and an additional, smaller screening space will primarily show repertory and community-aimed programming, Vidiots executive director Maggie Mackay also noted that the space will be more than open to four-wall rental by smaller indie distributors who want to show their new wares.
Whatever it takes to make an independent theater a going concern.
“I guess we’re going to find out,” Mackay said with a light chuckle. “So far, what it’s taken is an incredible community of advisers and partners and friends and colleagues who have been very willing to donate their time and, in the case of our First-In Founding Members, their cash.”
Cornerstone donors and corporate partners are being sought. Anyone interested in making tax deductible donations can do so at www.vidiotsfoundation.org.
So, obviously, there are many different ways to try to keep the independent spirit alive at the movies. Collectively, they’re more likely than not to help the artistically vital sector get past its recent crisis, as it has repeatedly through other challenges since the Laemmles opened their first theater during the Great Depression.
“Now, (specialized exhibitors) have got to give you more than other theaters, but give that audience the right experience,” said Sony Classics’ Bernard, who has worked in indie film for more than four decades. “I don’t see it as bleak, I just see it as the changing of the times.”
The festive spirit of Day of the Dead returns to Southern California with altars, people dressed in colorful costumes, live music, art and processions all meant to celebrate the memory of those who have passed.
It’s a popular tradition with several events happening all over the area. So if you’re looking to take part in the festive celebration, here are some of the events happening for Day of the Dead.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Where: 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.
When: Noon to midnight Nov. 2
Details: This is going to be one great party because not only is this one of the biggest Day of the Dead events around, with about 40,000 people expected throughout the day, it’s also the 20th anniversary of the cemetery’s celebration. Plus there’s a huge headliner this year as Mexican rockers Café Tacvba take the main stage at 9:30 p.m. There are also of course dozens of altars throughout the cemetery, a costume contest as well as an art exhibit in the Cathedral.
Cost: $25, kids and seniors enter free until 4 p.m.
Information: ladayofthedead.com
Museum of Latin American Art
Where: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach
When: 3:30-5:30 p.m. Oct. 30, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Nov. 1 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 3
Details: The museum started celebrating Day of the Dead in September when it launched an art exhibit to honor the memory of the departed and their lasting legacy called “De Generación a Generación: A Subconscious Lineage.” Now the museum is ramping things up with more events. On Oct. 30 people are invited to help artist Rosalie López construct a Día de los Muertos altar at the museum lobby. Just bring a picture, multiple printed copies, or a digital image of a loved one and it will be transformed into paper flowers for the altar. That’s followed on Nov. 1 by a workshop where you can learn to make Day of the Dead related art and see a folklórico dance performance. Then on Nov. 3 the museum celebrates with a festival that includes live music, food booths, vendors and altars.
Cost: Free
Information: Molaa.org
Grand Park
When: Oct. 26-Nov. 3
Where: 200 N. Grand Ave, Los Angeles
Details: Grand Park is throwing a nine-day celebration that stretches from the park all the way to the Music Center Plaza. It starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 with Noche de Ofrenda (Night of Offerings), at the Grand Park Performance Lawn near Hill Street. The night will include the unveiling of an altar by artist and educator Ofelia Esparza and dancers performing Aztec, Oaxacan and Michoacán dances.The celebration will continue with an all-female line-up of L.A.-based musicians performing a 7 p.m. concert on Nov. 1 called “Selena for Sanctuary,” at the Grand Park Performance Lawn. Then there are free Day of the Dead art-making workshops for adults and children at the Grand Park Olive Court, the Performance Lawn and the Music Center Plaza from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 2.
And about three dozen altars and art installations will be on public display from 5 a.m.-10 p.m. Oct. 26-Nov. 3 throughout Grand Park as well as the Music Center Plaza.
Cost: Free
Information: grandparkla.org
San Pedro Día de los Muertos Festival
Where: 398 W. Sixth St., San Pedro
When: 3-9 p.m. Oct. 27
Details: Downtown San Pedro turns into a lively party for this celebration, which is expected to attract about 10,000 people. There will be live music coming from two stages with Mariachi Divas headlining the event. Also on the bill are bands such as Latin folk rockers Cuñao, the Grammy nominated Trio Ellas, which mixes traditional mariachi roots music rock, pop and other sounds. There’s an altar competition, a beer garden, dancers and there will be plenty of people walking around in Day of the Dead attire.
Cost: Free
Information: SanPedroDayofTheDead.com
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Where: 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
When: 7 p.m. Oct. 27, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Nov. 9-10
Details: The Segerstrom Center for the Arts is getting musical with “Lila Downs’ Día de Muertos: Al Chile.” The Oct. 27 concert will feature singer Lila Downs performing traditional Mexican and Mesoamerican music with a mix of ballet folklorico and mariachi. Then on Nov. 9-10 the Center will present “Sugar Skull! A Día de los Muertos Musical Adventure.” The musical follows a young girl named Vita and a candy skeleton that comes to life and teaches her the true meaning of Día de los Muertos.
Cost: $39 for “Al Chile,” and $20 for musical.
Information: Scfta.org
Anaheim Cemetery
When: 5-7 p.m. Nov. 2
Where: 1400 E Sycamore St., Anaheim
Details: Families are invited to build altars to their loved ones buried at all the district cemeteries from now until Nov. 5 as part of the 4th annual Day of the Dead Celebration. And even if you don’t have a loved one buried there you can attend a memorial service at the Anaheim Cemetery’s Community Mausoleum to honor the dead at 5 p.m. Nov. 2. It will include food like Pan de Muerto (a sweetbread) plus Day of the Dead arts and crafts for kids, mariachi music and dance performances by Ballet Folklorico Donaji.
Cost: Free
Information: Occemeterydistrict.com
Pretend City Children’s Museum
Where: 29 Hubble, Irvine
When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 2
Details: This event is made for young kids and includes story time with a focus on the meaning behind Day of the Dead, plus music from Folklorico Echale Porras and kids can also learn how to make sugar skulls and Marigolds (the “flower of the dead”) out of tissue paper.
Cost: Museum admission is $13.75
Information: Pretendcity.org
Riverside Day of the Dead
Where: Market Street between University and 14th streets.
When: 1- 10 p.m. Nov. 2
Details: Altars will once again line the streets of Riverside as the annual festival returns to downtown. The day includes a La Catrina pageant, a chalk art competition and live music. People are also encouraged to dress in Day of the Dead attire and take part in the 1 p.m. procession down Market Street.
Cost: Free
Information: Riversidedayofthedead.com
Desert Memorial Park
Where: 31-705 Da Vall, Cathedral City
When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 2
Details: Folkloric dancers, mariachi bands plus community altars and student artwork will be part of the celebration put on by the Palm Springs Cemetery District at Desert Memorial Park. And if you’re hungry get there early because there will be free Pan de Muerto for the first 500 people who show up.
Cost: Free
Information: Discovercathedralcity.com
Castle Park
Where: 3500 Polk St., Riverside
When: 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 3
Details: This is event is aimed at young kids and mixes a little Day of the Dead spirit with Halloween fun. Kids can take part in Day of the Dead related arts and crafts, enter a costume contest and go on an afternoon trick-or-treat run. Plus they can go on the various rides at the park.
Cost: $14.99
Info: Castlepark.com
California State University, San Bernardino
Where: 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino
When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 2
Details: The Rialto High School Ballet Folklorico, Ballet Folklorico Cultural, and Aztec dancers will headline the celebration put on by the school’s Association of Latino Faculty, Staff and Students. You can dress up in Day of the Dead attire and peruse the vendor booths, meet student clubs and check out a community altar by CSUSB theater group Acto Latino. And there’s free parking on Lot D for the event.
Cost: Free
Information: Facebook.com/events/396845787678413/
Makuill Ollin Ocelotl
Where: The Fraternal Order of Eagles, 895 E. Ninth St. San Bernardino
When: 12-9 p.m. Nov. 2
Details: Bring chairs and blankets and gather around a circle to watch the San Bernardino-based Aztec dance group Makuill Ollin Ocelot perform sacred dances that honor those who have passed away. It all starts at noon with an altar building ceremony and people are encouraged to bring a picture of a loved one to add to the altar. The dance ceremony begins at 6 p.m. and goes on until 9 p.m.
Cost: Free
Information: On Instagram at makuill_ollin_ocelotl
Breed: Domestic shorthair
Age: 18 months
Gender: Spayed female
Freya’s story: Freya was found wandering around a parking lot at a supermarket. She was clearly lonely and begging to be saved. She is very friendly and loves to snuggle up and fall asleep in her foster’s arms at night. She also likes to curl up wherever she can find a spot. She’s a playful, happy girl.
Adoption donation: $50, includes vaccinations
Adoption procedure: Contact Lorraine with Long Beach Spay and Neuter Foundation at lbsn2006@yahoo.com or 562-544-0335.
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This is the place to find all of OCVarsity’s coverage of Friday’s high school football games, plus Thursday’s games.
We’ll have the Week 8 leaders and updated standings online Saturday night.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
OCVarsity Photos: Top plays and moments from Friday’s high school football games
La Habra rolls over Sunny Hills, closes in another another league title
Portola edges Northwood for sole possession of first place in Pacific Coast League
Los Alamitos uses record-setting ground game to crush Newport Harbor
Western records sixth shutout of season while beating Ocean View in league opener
Blevins, Washington lead the way as Pacifica rallies to beat Tustin
CIF-SS announces criteria for selecting teams to Division 1 football playoffs
Football roundup: Mater Dei sprints past Santa Margarita to set up showdown with St. John Bosco
Fryer on football: System takes San Clemente out of Division 1 bracket, and that’s not bad
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Servite breaks through to defeat JSerra behind Fifita, McMillan
Corona del Mar continues Sunset dominance, cruises past Fountain Valley
MORE COVERAGE FROM THIS WEEK . . .
Newport Harbor improving under Coach Peter Lofthouse but challenges remain
Western has a new way to win as it prepares for another championship run
Steve Fryer and Dan Albano high school football predictions for Week 8
OCVarsity video: Previews of this week’s top high school football games
Fryer on Football: Previews and predictions for the top Week 8 games
Mater Dei’s top-ranked football team did its part Friday to finalize the most anticipated game of the regular season.
Alabama-committed quarterback Bryce Young tossed four touchdowns and rushed for another and Quincy Craig blocked a field goal and caught a score as the Monarchs beat Santa Margarita 45-0 in a Trinity League game at Trabuco Hills High.
Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in the nation, improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in league to match the record of its next opponent, rival St. John Bosco (8-0, 3-0). The Braves, ranked No. 2 nation and the defending league champion in football, beat Orange Lutheran 63-6 in another game Friday.
The Braves will play host to the Monarchs on Friday, Oct 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Purchase tickets to @boscofootball vs @MDFootball right here. Tickets going fast! Will be sold within 24 hours.
MD fans: https://t.co/A06ny1UHoWBosco fans: https://t.co/cPGGkkNJYg@latsondheimer @ocvarsityguy @SteveFryer @presstelegram pic.twitter.com/3bXdFtKarS
— Bosco Athletics (@sjbathletics) October 19, 2019
Young tossed two touchdowns to fellow senior Kody Epps and one apiece to Craig, a rising sophomore, and Kyron Ware-Hudson, a junior.
Santa Margarita fell to 3-5 overall, 0-3 in the league.
In the South Coast League:
Tesoro 54, El Toro 14: Matt Harrington caught his first touchdown, cornerback Matt Frey returned an interception for a score and Justin Schafer added a 28-yard touchdown reception to help spark the host Titans (7-1, 1-1) in the first quarter. Schafer also became the Titans’ all-time leader in receptions with 118.
In the Sea View League:
Trabuco Hills 35, Laguna Hills 13: Junior Jaxon Smaler threw two touchdowns to Jake Naso and one to Jack Holland and Aidan Armstrong ran for a score to lead the visiting Mustangs (5-4, 1-1), who will take a bye week before playing at Aliso Niguel on Nov. 1 in a game that could decide second place.
In the Orange League:
Magnolia 48, Anaheim 7: Speedy sophomore running back Brandon Collins scored on a 34-yard run and the Sentinels (5-3, 2-1) won at Western to rebound from a loss against Katella (7-1, 3-0). Joseph Lariz and Lloyd Marshbanks also rushed for touchdowns for Magnolia, which plays host to Santa Ana Valley (7-1, 3-0) in a key league game next week.
In the Freeway League:
Troy 41, Buena Park 8: Roman Arriaga passed for 230 yards and three touchdowns and Lukas Mucino rushed for 124 yards and score to lead the Warriors (3-5, 2-1) at Fullerton.
The CIF-SS office on Friday announced its process for selecting the teams that will go into its elite Division 1 bracket that will be an eight-team bracket.
It looks bad for San Clemente. The process does not favor San Clemente getting selected to the Division 1 playoffs.
But, come to think of it, it looks good for San Clemente
Here is the process for selecting the eight teams that will be in the Division 1 playoffs …
Teams will receive points for where they are in the final Division 1 and 2 poll. The No. 1 team gets 10 points, the No. 2 team gets nine points, the No. 3 team eight points and so on down to one point for the No. 10 team.
Teams also get one point for each win over another team that is in the CIF-SS Divisions 1 and 2 group, and one point for being a league champion.
San Clemente defeated four Division 1 teams in nonleague play. But all four are CIF-San Diego Section teams, so San Clemente gets no points for those wins.
One could evaluate that as a bad situation for San Clemente, getting credited no points for those wins against good teams.
Or one could evaluate that as a good situation for San Clemente because it is unlikely that San Clemente at regular-season’s end would have enough points to get selected to Division 1.
Instead, San Clemente, 8-1 overall after a 36-14 win Friday over Capistrano Valley, is pretty much assured of going into the Division 2 bracket where the Tritons’ chances of success are far greater than they would be in Division 1.
In last year’s Division 1 playoffs San Clemente in the first round beat Murrieta Valley 49-26. Murrieta Valley will be in the Division 2 playoffs this season.
In last year’s Division 1 quarterfinals San Clemente lost to St. John Bosco 56-6. St. John Bosco again will be in the Division 1 playoffs this season.
Playing all of those San Diego County teams just might have worked out really well for San Clemente.
Extra points
• San Clemente, 3-0 in the South Coast League, plays at Mission Viejo (2-0) next Friday. Mission Viejo had a bye last week so the Diablos should come in fresh and ready … fresh from the break and ready because of the additional time to game-plan for San clement.
• Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco on Friday, Oct. 25 at St. John Bosco, will be the game of the week not only locally but in the nation as the teams are 1-2 in many national rankings. The game will be televised live by Prime Ticket. If you insist upon dealing with the parking headaches and general madness, tickets can be purchased at the schools’ websites, materdei.org and bosco.org.
• Mater Dei is the favorite in that one. The first place to look for guidance is how Mater Dei and St. John Bosco fared against their common opponent, Servite. St. John Bosco beat Servite by one point; Mater Dei beat Servite by 45 points.
• And it’s not just that common opponents data that makes Mater Dei the favorite. Mater Dei’s offense is unstoppable.
• La Habra senior Kris Koontz returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown in the Highlanders’ 49-7 win over Sunny Hills. It was his first kickoff return for a touchdown at any level of football.
• Clark Phillips III is known for his outstanding tight coverage as one of California’s top cornerbacks. He is a much more physical player than his scouting report suggests. The La Habra senior’s very minor flaw, one that he will eliminate when he gets to Ohio State next fall, is that he needs to get better at wrapping up on tackles instead of relying upon his ability to just blast into people and knock them down.
• O.C. football has a great group of senior quarterbacks with Mater Dei’s Bryce Young, Corona del Mar’s Ethan Garbers and La Habra’s Ryan Zanelli at the top off the stack. Picking the first- and second-team All-Orange County quarterbacks will not be easy.
• Newport Harbor took its first defeat of 2019 with a 44-3 loss to Los Alamitos in a Sunset League game. The Sailors finish the regular season with league games against Corona del Mar and Edison. They well could finish as the league’s No. 4 team and thus could only get into the CIF-SS Division 9 playoffs as an at-large team … and there might not be room for at-large teams in Division 9 that has 25 teams vying for its 16 playoff berths.
• Orange had a 61-0 halftime lead in its 61-14 win over Estancia.
• Of the 15 high school football games I’ve covered this season, the team with the most penalty yardage was the winner of 14 of those games.
The focus of our column this month is omissions. If you are a small business owner, your home and business are probably your two biggest assets, Yet it’s possible, even likely, you’ve included your home but omitted your business in your estate plan.
If you have made this omission, you’re not alone. Half of the 30 million small business owners in the U.S. have not done succession planning.
Often, the impact of this omission when a business owner dies or is incapacitated is that sales and services cease, employees don”t receive paychecks and eventually leave, and the business fails. The primary source of the family’s income is abruptly cut off.
Ultimately, the executor may be forced to shutter the doors and sell the assets at liquidation value, the lowest price possible for a business.
The effects of this omission don’t just impact distributions to beneficiaries. Long-term customers and clients may face delays and interruptions and will need to take their business elsewhere. Vendors and creditors may have to pursue collections against the estate. Sometimes, surviving spouses must file bankruptcy.
Faithful, older employees will suddenly be unemployed and too old to find other jobs. Almost half of the private workforce in this country work at small businesses.
This omission, with grim consequences for so many, need not happen. Here are steps you can take to include your business in your estate plan.
First, make sure your primary estate planning documents — your will, living trust, and power of attorney — include your business. Your trust should state your wishes about how it should be divided upon your death and who will run it when you can’t.
If your trust is a few years old, meet with your attorney to review it. Your management team and the business itself may have changed, necessitating an update to the terms of your trust.
If you have partners or family members co-managing the company, you will want to consider utilizing a buy/sell agreement. Usually, this grants each owner or the company itself the first rights to purchase a deceased or incapacitated owner’s share, according to a pre-set valuation formula. The remaining partners or shareholders will buy out the exiting owner’s share either by directly paying the owner or the heirs.
Consider a key-person life and disability policy with the business as the beneficiary. When an owner dies or becomes incapacitated, insurance proceeds from a key-person policy can keep the business running, or be used to buy out the deceased owner’s interest.
If you don’t have partners or family members to take over management, it’s essential to identify someone you trust to run the business in the short term, until it can be sold. The last thing you want is employees and family members arguing over who is in charge at such a sad and difficult time.
Your transitional manager can be a long-term employee, trusted business associate, or friend. It need not be the same person named as your trustee. The transitional manager need not be the same person who sells the business. You can select your trustee or another capable person to handle the sale.
It should be someone familiar with your company who’s level-headed with some management skills and experience. Name a second person in case your first choice is not available.
You’ll want to give your transitional manager detailed instructions and authority. They should be aware of where relevant documents are located. They should know how to be added quickly as a signer on bank accounts.
Make sure everyone involved in your business, including your key employees, attorney, banker, and CPA, have met this person and acknowledge his or her authority. It is better to have disagreements now, while you are still here to referee quarrels and console passed-over employees and relatives.
Go on vacation and ask your transitional manager to cover for you for a couple of weeks to work out the kinks.
Meet with your attorney to draft the appropriate documents and instructions. Allow for their compensation in your planning documents, and provide insurance or waivers to limit their liability.
Do not wait for death or incapacity to take a break from the business you worked so hard to build. The best advice is to plan now on selling or transferring your business interest to retire. Plan so you can pursue other interests and have some enjoyment not related to work.
Value your business now and set a timeline for your planned exit date. Work with consultants to build the value of your company to maximize the sale price. Take that overdue vacation.
Michelle C. Herting, CPA, AEP specializes in Trusts, Estates, and Business Valuations. She has offices in Riverside, Santa Monica, and Newport Beach.
The Queen Mary, a retired British ocean liner that Long Beach has sought for decades to restore to its former glory, continues to languish.
Years of inspection reports obtained by the Press-Telegram, predating and including the current operator’s lease, revealed that little progress has been made on urgent repair work to the ship.
Long Beach officials, for their part, have argued that the inspection reports don’t reflect the full scope of work that has occurred on the ship. But the inspector tasked with analyzing the Queen Mary’s condition said he has seen little, if any, evidence that enough rehabilitation work is being done to prevent the ship from falling further into disrepair.
“The biggest problem is that maintenance isn’t being performed,” Long Beach’s third-party inspector, Edward Pribonic, said in a phone interview this week. “And there is no enforcement on the city’s side to get that done.”
Lack of maintenance and repair work has been an ongoing theme throughout Pribonic’s reports, despite the city’s selection of a new operator for the ship in 2016. Early that year, Urban Commons took over a 66-year lease and agreed to take on the Queen Mary’s maintenance.
As part of the deal, Long Beach agreed to pay $23 million toward the repair work. But that money dried up last year, and problems persist.
Pribonic’s comments were consistent with years of monthly reports he has submitted to the city about the Queen Mary’s state.
In a January 2016 report, Pribonic noted that the ship’s expansion joints have been an ongoing issue since at least 1999. After years of noting the issue could become a danger, he noted, an attempt to repair them resulted in “a large section of the corroded expansion joint (falling) from overhead nearly striking staff below it.”
After that, he was informed that only a portion of the joints would be repaired.
“I consider this unacceptable from both a safety viewpoint and a preservation viewpoint,” he wrote.
In reports from this year, Pribonic wrote that staff had indicated work was being done on the expansion joints. But despite those assurances, he wrote in May, “I found this not to be the case.”
Other issues, like the ship’s lifeboats, have also made repeat appearances in inspection reports over the years.
“No work on containing the expanding corrosion of the lifeboats has been done in years,” he wrote in November 2015. “I would like to raise awareness to the fact that the davit structures that hold up the boats is also rapidly corroding and structural cracks are appearing.”
In January of this year, Pribonic noted that the lack of work on the lifeboats “is a critical safety concern.”
And in May, he reiterated, “The danger of structural failure of the lifeboats is the highest priority.”
In his interview with the Press-Telegram, Pribonic said he, city staff and the ship’s operator, Urban Commons, have all agreed that the lifeboats are some of “the most critical items.”
But the company, Pribonic said, has no funding to address his concerns.
Representatives for Urban Commons declined to answer questions about the state of the ship. Spokeswoman Martha Dickerson pointed to previous statements made by Urban Commons’ principal and co-founder, Taylor Woods.
“Repairs to The Queen Mary have been underway for some time, with each item outlined in our agreement appropriately prioritized and either already addressed, or postponed,” Woods said in an Oct. 4 statement, “with supporting documentation in favor of issues that required immediate attention to ensure the ship remains safe for visitors and crew at all times.”
Long Beach, for its part, appears to have confidence in Urban Commons’ stewardship.
“I can say without any reservations that the ship is far safer than it was three years ago, or the day before Urban Commons took over the contract,” Long Beach Economic Development Director John Keisler said in a Friday, Oct. 18, interview.
“We know that a lot of the issues in the reports that have been addressed — they just dropped off the reports,” Keisler added, noting that significant progress has been made on repairs to the Queen Mary’s fire and life-safety systems, including the ship’s fire alarm panel and emergency generator.
“Inspection reports should all be bad,” Keisler said. “They should be addressing issues of concern.”
In that respect, it appears Pribonic is succeeding in his task.
But, counter to Keisler’s point, Pribonic said he stood by his reports as documents noting the state of the Queen Mary as a whole.
“I question how you can go through $23 million and get virtually nothing done,” Pribonic said, “and there’s no problem with that.”
As for where the ship goes from here, Pribonic said it’s unclear, because his understanding is that Urban Commons simply doesn’t have the money to keep up with the necessary work.
Keisler acknowledged funding is an issue, but he said the operator is working cooperatively with the city to come up with solutions.
Although Keisler sent a letter earlier this month to Urban Commons, warning the firm that it may default on its lease, Keisler said Friday that was no longer a concern.
“They’ve shown they’re being very responsive,” he said, “and they intend to not only meet those deadlines, but they want to make sure they fulfill those obligations.”
Meanwhile, Long Beach is eyeing hiring another third-party firm to check Pribonic’s work.
“The main thing here is that, in the last three months, the language that’s being used by our consultant and our inspector has become more acute,” Keisler said, “and so we’re now asking a third-party engineer, a larger engineering firm with operational capacity, to do a deeper dive to look at those specific issues.”
You want to put your best foot forward when you are selling your house.
Regardless of whether you’ve done recent upgrades or your home is in original condition, all sellers need to focus on these basics to succeed.
Clean and shiny: Make sure all of your cabinets, counters, walls, mirrors, sinks, door handles, faucets, ceilings and floors are clean and shiny.
Now’s the time to get the handprints off the walls and doors, the coffee splatters off the back splash, the specks of dried dog food off the wall behind Spot’s food bowl, the grease off of the vent hood and the scuff marks on the baseboards.
If you’ve never used them before, this is the time to familiarize yourself with the power of magic eraser sponges. Made of Melamine, they can be used to clean almost anything, and a recent online search produced a pack of 100 for less than $5.00. Read the directions before you clean your finest pearls, but this is an extremely economical way to tackle household cleanliness.
Touch up paint: If your bedroom door handle has punched a hole into the wall it opens into, take the time to patch it up and touch up the paint.
If the family pictures you took down from the stairwell left tiny holes in the wall, and your new fashion artwork doesn’t cover them all, fill them in with spackle and touch up the paint.
If the paint on your kitchen and bathroom cabinets has peeled, been scrapped off by hands continually grabbing for the pulls and handles or has been stained by water or grease, sand it down and touch up the paint.
You can get a quart of paint, a new roller, spackle and a small pan for under $30.
Flowing freely: Are your bathroom sinks clogged? For less than $3, you can buy a plastic drain snake and clear out the gunk so water can flow freely down the drain. While you’re in there, check the sink stoppers to make sure they are screwed on straight and they actually stop up the drain when you pull the lever.
Change the filters: The home inspector is going to check your heating and air conditioning system, so why not let him find a fresh, clean filter. Depending on the size you need, it could cost less than $5 to make a clean impression. Similarly, change the filter in your kitchen vent. Again, depending on the size, you might have to pay about $10 for a brand new filter.
Evaluate the look of your front door: All prospective buyers will come into your house through the front door. They will have a few minutes to study your front door while their agent searches for the lock box to retrieve the key.
Is your door clean and free of spider webs? Does the paint need touching up? Does the hardware need to be replaced with a more updated look?
You may choose to spend $100 to $200 to give your door a fresh new look to make a great first impression.
Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is an agent with Realty One Group. She can be reached at 949-678-3373 or leslie@leslieeskildsen.com.
I am not in the pocket of John Law. I believe there should be fewer laws. I hate calling electeds “lawmakers.” I wish they would go to Sacramento and come back home showing us the laws they got rid of, not the ones they wrote. There ought not to be a law.
At the very least, for every law passed, eliminate a needless one, so we just stay even.
That said, I will be happy, now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 15 excellent new gun-safety laws all at once, to quickly find 15 old state laws to eliminate. I can do it while I eat my egg salad sandwich here at lunch, if anyone asks. But since they haven’t, I will simply celebrate the legislation and legislators who just made California a state in which we are less likely to be butchered by bullets:
• AB12 by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, extends the duration of a gun violence restraining order to a maximum of five years. Why not? Prove you’ve no violent intent, and you’re good.
• AB61 by Assemblymember Philip Ting, D-San Francisco, allows a coworker or teacher to file a petition requesting a gun violence restraining order. Why leave it to shrinks and spouses? They’re not the only ones who can see a guy is nuts.
• AB164 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, holds people subject to a valid restraining order from out of state to the same restrictions on buying or possessing guns in California. Of course — state lines are really easy to cross.
• AB339, also by Irwin, requires local cops to develop written policies and standards regarding the use of gun violence restraining orders, because otherwise they are ignored.
• AB1493, also by Ting, authorizes a person who is the subject of a gun violence restraining order to petition to submit a form to the court voluntarily relinquishing their firearm rights. Self-report!
• SB61 by Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, bans the sale of a semiautomatic centerfire rifle to any person under 21 years of age, and applications to purchase more than one semiautomatic centerfire rifle in any 30-day period, with a few exceptions. To my own senator, I say, Thanks for this sensible age update and rapid arsenal-acquiring prevention.
• SB376, also by Portantino, prevents Californians from selling large numbers of firearms without a license by capping the number of annual sales at five transactions or 50 firearms. What are you — a gun store? Get a hobby less likely to kill somebody.
• AB645, also by Irwin, requires packaging for firearms to contain a warning statement on suicide prevention. Absolutely: 60 percent of U.S. gun deaths are suicides.
• AB879 by Assemblymember Mike Gipson, D-Carson, requires that the sale of firearms “precursor parts” be conducted through a licensed vendor.
• AB1669 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, updates existing law by applying the same gun show regulations that already apply to firearms dealers to ammunition vendors, and ensures that sufficient funding is available for firearm regulatory efforts. Guns don’t kill people — bullets do.
• AB1297 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, requires local authorities giving concealed gun licenses to charge an applicant a fee sufficient to cover the reasonable costs of processing, issuing and enforcement of the license, and eliminates the existing $100 limit on processing fees for concealed firearm licenses. Pay the real cost, you holstered hombres.
• AB893 by Assemblymember Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, bans selling guns and bullets at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Why not just have a safe day at the races?
Larry Wilson is a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board. lwilson@scng.com.
My wife, Carla and I were introduced to Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages, in 2011. This classic easy read was originally published in 1995 and contains the keys to a successful relationship by understanding your mate’s love language and learning to speak it.
If you are unfamiliar, as was I, with the five languages, they are touch, time, affirmation, gifts and service. It is quite coincidental that we discovered the book while on a 45-day road trip around the U.S. Carla’s language is time and mine is affirmation, so the trip was time spent together with some affirming words to me that we wouldn’t go broke as we abandoned our day jobs for a little R&R.
The book caused me to reflect recently on the five love languages that we experience as commercial real estate brokers, so I decided to spend some time in your service, touching the keys to exercise my creativity in producing this gift to you. Hopefully, at least four or five of you out there provide me with some affirmation.
Whew! Got ’em ALL.
So, in no particular order, here are the five love languages of Commercial Real Estate – also known as what drives us.
You will know this guy’s language straight away if you get in the way of a money-driven broker and a dollar bill. He will bowl you over to get to the greenback. This broker will sacrifice his client for the commission and is looking for the quickest way to the paycheck. Doing what’s best for the client? Only if it results in the largest fee. This is not my favorite guy with whom to negotiate.
Golf, Laker’s games (well, maybe in the early 2000s), cocktails, lunches, gifts at Christmas, gifts at birthdays, gifts for gifts — this guy is ALL about the relationship and keeping the client happy, healthy, well-fed and well-watered. Generally, his clients are his friends as well. Dining with spouses, vacations — why not invite a client/friend to join.
Sometimes referred to in the biz as the “over broker,” this practitioner’s hallmark is the spreadsheet. Lease vs buy, effective rent, amortization, termination penalties – you name it, he spreads it – he spreads even your thinning patience. Done in the name of “what’s best for his client,” this broker is a frustrated engineer. Let’s just zoom back here and see the deal for its good points, shall we?
AKA the deal junkie, this guy is all about making transactions – big, small, it simply doesn’t matter – he just enjoys watching two parties say yes. He would have been a justice of the peace but the hours suck. Generally, this guy is creative and has myriad transaction experience from which to draw. If you move on past his listing, he will hound you until you place your occupant in another building – then he will hound your client.
Proportions are blown with this fellow. The simplest item becomes a federal case and you wonder if he even consulted his client before he blew his stack. Yelling, screaming and constant F-bombs are a steady diet. A smooth transaction is out of the question. What fun would that be?
Well, there you have the minimum. But I thought of a couple more – bonus languages!
Provisors, BNI, Chambers of Commerce, RBN, SIOR, CCIM – this guy is EVERYWHERE! Sometimes I wonder when he finds time to transact amidst this flurry of swapping business cards. His elevator pitch is honed, rarely delivered without passion and with scant regard to the setting. Yep, even at his daughter’s dance recital!
Few of us are lawyers but many of us get our Perry Mason on when negotiating a contract. Let’s leave the waivers of subrogation, mutual indemnities and liquidated damages to those with ESQ following their names, shall we?
So, what is your commercial real estate love language? I would really appreciate your comments.
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.
It may be the Arctic’s greatest and most ghastly maritime mystery — two well-outfitted ships lost at sea for nearly 170 years, all 129 sailors presumed dead amid harrowing tales of cannibalism, starvation, lead poisoning and a subzero march across the bleak tundra.
Despite countless books, songs, poems, movies and an AMC TV miniseries, no one really knows what happened after Sir John Franklin infamously set sail from England in 1845 to find the coveted Northwest Passage route with the ill-fated HMS Erebus and bad-omen-named HMS Terror. The plot thickens, though, because after more than 40 search missions failed to locate the ghost ships, the Erebus was finally discovered on the ocean floor in Canada’s high Arctic in 2014 and the sunken Terror nearby in 2016.
Which leads to my groundbreaking outing. This bone-chiller afternoon above the Arctic Circle, I’m Gore-Tex-garbed, super-hyped and skimming in a 10-person Zodiac raft across choppy legendary seas en route to the restricted Erebus shipwreck site where underwater archaeologists are retrieving silt-coated clues, some as personal as part of an officer’s leather boot.
How did I become an eyewitness to epic polar history? By booking a 17-day Northwest Passage expedition cruise with tour operator Adventure Canada, which had an exclusive partnership with government agency Parks Canada to bring passengers to Erebus’ top-secret watery grave (on orders, we turn off GPS on our phones and cameras). Adventure Canada planned to take guests here on five previous cruises over three years but impassable ice and mighty winds scrapped any attempts while at sea. In September, by Zodiacs in small groups one at a time, we’re the world’s first-ever tourists to make it.
The trailblazing experience is part of remarkable Arctic journey I share with 170 fellow passengers traveling 3,325 miles aboard the Ocean Endeavour through the isolated indigenous Inuit territory of Nunavut in Canada to rugged, barely populated Greenland. One morning, from our ship’s deck, we watch a magnificent polar bear feasting on its fresh-killed seal atop a blood-stained ice floe.
On Zodiac rides, we’re deliriously dwarfed by opaque-blue skyscraper icebergs, some resembling frosted witches’ castles and humongous molar teeth. Inuit culturalists teach us about their subsistence lifestyle (be forewarned, those fuzzy polar bears are dinner and pants for them), and we drop in on tiny Inuit hamlets in this harsh extreme north. The Inuit, we learn, play a crucial role in the shipwreck saga.
By the time we layer up for our Erebus visit, I’ve been glued to onboard lectures and videos about the two doomed British Royal Navy vessels that carried vast provisions for its crew including 64,000 pounds of salted pork and beef, 9,400 pounds of chocolate, 3,600 gallons of high-proof booze and 200 gallons of “wine for the sick.” Officials from Parks Canada — our informative shipmates for three days — put on a fascinating show-and-tell with replicas of earlier found artifacts, including the only written record from the disaster.
In 1859, a hand-scrawled note was discovered rolled in a tin cylinder on King William Island near where the Erebus and Terror had been stuck in pack ice. One message, from May 1847, said the crews had wintered at Beechey Island, that Franklin was in command and “all well.” Eleven months later, Terror captain Francis Crozier ominously scribbled on the edges that Franklin and 23 others had died and that the remaining 105 men had just abandoned the ice-locked ships after 19 months, and set off on foot. Then they vaporized.
After our 20-minute Zodiac ride, we clamber up onto the Parks Canada research ship, RV David Thompson, which is home for eight divers who have as little as two days each year to comb the Franklin wrecks due to icy, perilous Mother Nature. Marine archeologist Ryan Harris points to screens showing sonar images of the well-preserved Erebus and Terror, the latter about 50 miles away and an astonishing time-capsule.
Harris explains how the submerged Terror is upright, the glass windows and wheel intact, with muskets hanging on walls, and dishes and bottles tidily sitting on shelves, all as if the vessel gently sank. “You never see that on shipwrecks anywhere. It’s a breathtaking scene,” he says. A robotic camera filmed 20 cabins, doors open, toilet chamber pots still next to beds. “Most tantalizing” is Crozier’s desk, a thick sediment protecting tightly shut drawers that may contain charts and documents to unravel the nautical nightmare.
Our Zodiac next motors to the cramped dive barge at ground zero. Churning swells make it impossible to see the Erebus, but the long-sought polar prize hauntingly lies adorned with kelp and sea anemones just 36 feet beneath my waterproof boots. We watch mesmerized in real time on a monitor as a diver swims below us to a new discovery — a half-dozen blue willow-pattern ceramic plates neatly stacked up in a mess area as if dinner will soon be served. Later, we move into the barge’s artifact lab, where latex-gloved archaeologist Brandy Lockhart unveils six just-salvaged relics from the Erebus officers’ quarters, the items soaking in tubs of water draped by white wet towels for preservation. Photo-taking is prohibited, but we gaze at a black glass bottle that likely held wine; a ceramic bottle probably for ink; a glass decanter; a knob that may be a stamping seal; and the sole of a rubber boot.
“A couple years ago, we took DNA from another boot we recovered but we couldn’t make a match,” Lockhart says. The DNA profile was compared to existing data about the crew and descendants.
What strikes me are the dainty sugar cube tongs discovered in an officer’s drawer. Juxtapose that with this: For generations, the Inuit have passed down accounts of seeing groups of gaunt frostbitten white men, some with blackened faces possibly from scurvy, trudging along even years after the ships were deserted. But Inuit testimony was scorned — particularly in 19th century Victorian England — after it recounted men devouring each other. Decades later, cannibalism was confirmed when modern-day scientists analyzed scattered skeletal remains on King William Island; knife cut marks and cracked-open bones suggested starving sailors dismembered comrades before eating them and desperately sucked out the marrow.
For more than a century, the Inuit also described the ships’ present locations, although past searchers discounted the information because the vessels are much farther south than where they were stranded. Which is another mystery — were the Erebus and Terror re-manned at some point and sailed again?
The heralded discoveries have made a mark on Gjoa Haven, a struggling, remote Inuit enclave that means “place of plenty blubber” in the Inuktitut language and is the nearest settlement to the shipwrecks, about 80 miles from each.
“We are proud our people gave stories to find the ships,” says Leo Uttaq, a grandfather who is carving a polar bear figurine from soapstone in his dirt yard. Two decapitated, hairy horned heads of muskox lie near his feet, the bodies’ flesh already consumed by his family. Survival depends on hunting in the sea and on land — “we use every part of the animal” — especially when groceries are brought by cargo ship only once a year. (And they are pricey — in the co-op market an eight-count box of Eggo waffles costs $6.50; a 1.5 quart of ice cream $12.)
Earlier, on our own ship, we meet the “Guardians.” Parks Canada hired these young Gjoa Haven men to camp on shores near the wrecks and watch for looters and trespassers. Back in town, Gjoa Haven’s heritage center features a Franklin exhibit with a replica of the now-excavated bronze bell that regularly rang to signify activities aboard the Erebus. Last year, though, after a string of sudden deaths in the hamlet, residents feared underwater archaeologists were stirring up a ships’ curse and departed souls. A Gjoa Haven elder had already blessed the Erebus by sprinkling sand collected from an ancient Inuit burial site. Now the Guardians performed the same rite over the Terror.
And as Parks Canada official Tamara Tarasoff notes: “There is no evidence of human remains on the ships yet.”
Gjoa Haven, significantly, was named in 1903 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who spent two years there with his ship, the Gjoa, while attempting to navigate the Europe-to-Asia trade route that lethally eluded Franklin. Amundsen wisely learned survival skills from the locals (like dress warmly in caribou), before going on to become the first European to successfully cross the Northwest Passage.
Answers will come gradually for the Erebus and Terror; with just a slim weather window, it could take years to bring up and examine thousands of artifacts at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Since 2015, about 70 items have been retrieved, all from the Erebus.
During our own Northwest Passage journey, we stand in a moment of silence before three forlorn graves on Beechey Island, a dreary uninhabited moonscape shrouded in ghostly fog. Franklin and his ships spent the freezing winter of 1845-46 in this dinky harbor before sailing into the abyss. While here, three seamen were properly buried in mahogany caskets under wood headstones affixed with bronze plaques: one states John Torrington “departed this life” onboard the HMS Terror on New Year’s Day. He was 20. A fourth grave belongs to a sailor who perished in 1854 while looking for the lost ships.
In the 1980s, researchers exhumed the three Franklin mates — all eerily mummified by permafrost — and determined they likely died from pneumonia and tuberculosis. Tissue samples also revealed high levels of lead, bolstering another horrid theory about the missing crew — that they had been slowly poisoned by lead from the ship’s canned food or water pipes and even possibly gone insane.
Further down on Beechey Island, we linger beside the decayed shambles of Northumberland House, built in 1852-53 by the British Admiralty’s last search effort to find Franklin’s fleet. It was a shelter, stocked with supplies, should the men ever return to Beechey Island.
Rusted food tins from the would-be rescue tell the ending. The cans are arranged in the shape of a Christian cross as a memorial on the desolate beach.
Adventure Canada sails two Northwest Passage trips in summer 2020 and, weather-permitting, is planning to visit the Erebus site. Sale prices available through Oct. 31 start at $9,346 per person. Information: adventurecanada.com.
The consensus box of picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for Saturday Oct. 19 at Santa Anita.
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Here are the highlights from USC’s press conferences following Saturday’s 41-14 win over Arizona:
Opening statement:
“Good night for our kids. In this second half of the season, we talk about winning one at a time and being 1-0 tonight. Playing a team that was at the top of the Pac-12 South along with us, a team that controlled it’s own destiny like we did. We know that if we plan on playing championship football then we got to treat every game like a championship game. Obviously a good night, but a night where we had some injuries and some guys had to step up and be the next guy up. These two guys that are up here right now [Kenan Christon and Kana’i Mauga] we those guys. Kana’i not only makes a great overall play, makes a huge turnover for us in the red zone that allowed us to put a stamp on the game. Then, I credit our coaches of just doing a great job of preparing everybody all the way from the bottom up. You never know when your time is gonna come and Kenan, he goes out there and has not only his first 100-yard rushing game but two touchdowns. I’m so proud of him, proud of our boys. We’re 1-0, 1-0 in this second half and now we’ve got a really short week on the road at Colorado so we’re right back to work first thing tomorrow.”
On balancing the excitement from the win with the half dozen injuries USC suffered:
“I feel terrible for those kids. We had six injuries, significant ones, tonight that we’ll have to see where they’re at. It’s bittersweet because the kids are playing extremely hard. You saw what they did to Notre Dame, which is a physical game on both sides. Came out tonight with a chip on their shoulder and really something to prove and played extremely hard. I’m sad for those six kids.”
On what he knows as of Saturday night about the injuries:
“Talanoa [Hufanga] suffered a shoulder injury. I’ll have to give you more information on Monday when we practice. Stephen Carr suffered a hamstring injury. I’ll give you more information on that on Monday. Malik McClain suffered a shoulder injury. Drake Jackson, ankle injury. Markese Stepp, an ankle injury and Munir McClain, a knee injury.”
On what impressed him about the defense’s performance without six starters for much of the game:
“We talked about getting to the quarterback, and to have seven sacks on the night I was really, really happy with the pressure. But most importantly, just containing the quarterback. We had issues in the first half of the season. I credit [defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast] along with the defensive staff, Johnny Nansen. They went out and studied NFL teams, teams that have played Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, some athletic quarterbacks, Baltimore Ravens and really see what others are doing to defend it and input in some of those things. I thought the kids thrived off of it and I was looking forward to watching it. They did a really nice job against I think one of the better athletes [Khalil Tate] in the country.”
On what exactly the defense did to be effective against Tate:
“I don’t want to give game plan away, but one of the things that you did see was you had the opportunity for a lot of up-field twist games. You saw that a different package came in on third down on passing situations, and different personnel. Malik was a part of that, which is sad. He really did a nice job of creating pressure, along with Hunter Echols. Drake was inside, which he’s normally not inside. He was at the three, Caleb [Tremblay] who’s usually outside became a three. You really had an extremely fast group that was not only penetrating but also with the twist games really controlling the line of scrimmage. It was a nice package that was put in this week and very effective.”
On Christon’s game:
“With Vavae [Malepeai] down this week, that’s part of training camp, that’s part of always carrying guys, keep building them up and getting them to the point. Some guys are ready Game 1 and some guys are really building themselves and being ready. This guy over the six weeks prepared himself. It was fun tonight. Because when he hit the first one, Mike Jinks as soon as he hit the line of scrimmage said touchdown. When you’re a 100-, 300-meter kid and you got that type of speed, it was neat to watch. Credit to Kenan and Coach Jinks, they prepared a kid to be ready for his time and he got his time tonight.”
On the role that Christon could play in the offense in the coming weeks:
“We’re gonna see where we’re at. Losing Vavae this week and then losing two more backs this week, obviously I would imagine Kenan’s gonna have a pretty big role going into Colorado, as well as Quincy Jontti. Hopefully we get one guy back.”
On Mauga’s big night:
“He reminds me a lot of what [Michael Pittman] did when he was a young person. This is kind of our special teams captain and a guy that’s sitting right behind [Palie Gaoteote IV] in getting those reps each and every day. Just a guy that we can count on day in and day out. I remember that with Pitt. He was just waiting for his time. And then meanwhile he was so special on our special teams. That’s what Kana’i has been. Just a true and doing whatever is called upon to help the team win. He’s called upon to be the starter tonight and then low and behold interception, forced fumble, tackles everywhere. It was like unleashing somebody that was just waiting for his chance. I can’t tell you how happy I am for him.”
On USC’s young players stepping up after injuries:
“We have a talented young bunch. There’s a bunch of freshmen and sophomores on this team and I’ve said it multiple times, I think this is gonna be a team that’s gonna be a really good team for a long time. They’re gonna grow together. It’s only eight seniors on this team and if you look at the freshmen and sophomores playing on this team right now, they’re very talented. We don’t lose many people and there’s a lot of people that are going to be here in 3-4 years.”
On the offense’s performance:
“I didn’t feel like we had a great rhythm, to be honest with you. I thought we found that rhythm once the running game started going and we found a little bit more advantage coverages because of it. I thought [offensive coordinator Graham Harrell] did a nice job in the second half of being able to take some deep ball shots to kind of open them up. It’s been every game, we kinda had to diagnose what the defense is doing, and what we scouted is kinda not what we got in the first quarter. There’s just a little bit of time to take place, go okay, this is what we’re getting an these are our adjustments. And he as a coach and an offensive staff have done a great job of being able to say, ‘Okay, this is what it’s going to be today. Let’s get to the plays we need to get to.’ “
On if it’s been tough to stay ready before his debut:
“I would say it’s not tough at all. I’m here to help the team. I’m willing to do whatever I can, wherever they need me I’ll go and I’ll play. I just been preparing the right way and staying focused.”
On his first touchdown:
“I was just being patient, followed my blockers and they opened up a huge hole for me and just finished the run.”
On the defense’s mindset entering the game without four starters, and then losing two more:
“Our mindset through the game was to contain the quarterback as much as we could. Our DBs did a very good job of plastering to their man and our d-line did a fantastic job staying in their lanes.”
If his forced fumble provided any momentum for the defense:
“Most definitely. I believe that our defense is all together. So when one makes a play then everyone makes a play. So it was hyped on the sideline and it was a great atmosphere.”
On the offense’s performance:
“Whenever you score 40 points you should be happy, but I think we left a lot of points out there. Could have done a lot more to get first-half scoring.”
On what the team needs to do to get the offense going earlier:
“A lot of that’s on me. I didn’t do my job and wasn’t very disciplined and missed a lot of opportunities.”
On Christon’s performance:
“That was awesome. You see him in practice do it time and time again, but to see him do it against live defenders was great.”
On the mindset after the win:
“We’re 1-0 for the rest of the second half of the season. We got to keep this up and improve from where we can.”
On Christon’s perfomance:
“You can see that he’s definitely a track champion. He was patient and then he took off. He’s a tremendous talent. I didn’t even see him hit the hole and then I look up and he’s already by the end zone. We knew he was fast. He’s got some wheels. We knew he’s got that speed. I was just thinking, ‘Dang, this kid has got some wheels.’ He’s got the little wing tattoos on his legs. He deserves to have those, for sure.”
On his nerves before his first start:
“Nerves weren’t that bad. Coming from Texas, I was coming from a big state that loves football. The crowd and the community was good and they helped me calm down those guys.”
On the team’s mindset after so many injuries:
“Coach Clancy and all them do a great job of making sure everybody gets reps just in case so that if something goes down and you have to step up. In my case, I’ve been working as the No. 2 and I been the backup corner for this whole season and when I had my chance to step up I had to show that I could come in and contribute to the team and hold down my position.”
On his own performance:
“I did good. I didn’t have any catches, I had two tackles and I didn’t mess up really in any plays. I feel great about our secondary. The way we came out tonight and we contributed to the run and the short passes and everything and we stopped them and we showed everybody we’re not a secondary to be played with.”
If it’s a confidence boost to have this performance against a top-10 total offense:
“[They knew Arizona] would try to come out and tempo us. We had to play and keep our own tempo, keep moving with our own tempo. I feel like that was a big confidence boost for us to be able to hold down a top-10 team to only 14 points and for us to really show how our defense would play.”
On the injuries suffered by the defense:
“It was unfortunate. We’re kinda beat up. I know the guys that are down will be in there tomorrow, getting rehabbed and get them back as quickly as possible.”
On Mauga’s performance:
“I was really happy with the way he played. He’s been practicing well all season and doing well on special teams. So I knew when he got his opportunity he was gonna make the most of it. And tonight he did.”
On the toughness the defense displayed:
“Tribute to the guys, to their studying of the opponent, really diving into the game plan and the whole staff getting all of their positions ready.”
On how the defense slowed down Tate:
“We wanted to keep him bottled up. I think that we’ve seen a lot of him over the years and we know what kind of player he is and the guys just really zeroed in and focused on what we needed to do tonight.”
On Slovis’ performance:
“I thought this was probably the most hesitant he’s been all year. He’s young. I think he played more like a freshman than he normally plays like tonight.”
On what the defense showed overall:
“Personally, I think we showed we’re great. Keeping the quarterback contained, not letting him scramble for a bunch of yards. We did a great job in the passing games and all the shots from the d-line, they were just getting that pressure which is great for us defensive backs. We forced them to make bad plays and that’s how tackled.”
On how he felt coming back from an ankle injury:
“I felt great. I came out there to help the team. As long as I help the team doing what we do, I feel great, personally.”
If he knew he’d be able to play as much as he did:
“No, not really. I didn’t fold to challenge. I stepped up to it. If they need me in, I’m gonna give my all I got because I love this game.”
On the in-game injuries:
“It does hurt us a lot because those are guys who fought and who gave everything they have.”
On the defense’s performance:
“We prepared hard all week and watched a lot of film so we came out here and did our job.”
On watching the injuries mount:
“We just have a next-man-up mentality. Everybody prepares in practice, go hard, be ready when your number’s called.”
On his third-down tackle in the first quarter:
“I just seen two big guards coming out to me so I used my size to my advantage, got little and made the tackle.”
On Mauga’s performance:
“He did really good. He does that in practice, though, so that’s what’s expected from him.”
On three true freshmen starting at corner:
“It felt real good just be out there with the dudes in my class that I came in with and stuff. I think everybody performed real well. I think everybody took advantage of the opportunity so I’m real happy for everybody.”
I recently spent a night in a motel whose décor included lots and lots of plants – in the reception area, the lobby, the hallways, and the rooms. The plants were without blemish – but they were artificial. There is definitely a trend in this direction and I suppose it’s just a matter of time until outdoor décor will include artificial plants as well.
However, the reason to surround yourself with living plants is not only to maintain a connection with the natural world but for the beneficial effects of caring for them.
Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan, the authors of “Indoor Jungle” (Smith Street Books, 2019), put it this way: “Bringing plants into our homes and workspaces can be the perfect antidote to stress and anxiety, allowing us to nurture these living things and, in turn, ourselves.”
It has slowly dawned on me that, when it comes to growing indoor plants, ironically enough, you would be better off living high up in an urban apartment tower than in a suburban house surrounded by trees. The reason, of course, is the difference in the amount of light streaming through your windows. In a tall tower, there are no obstructions to the sun other than blinds or curtains, which you can open or close, and to varying degrees, regulating the amount of light streaming through. If you want unobstructed sunlight or something less, it’s your choice to make. In a house, however, particularly in a neighborhood with mature trees and tall hedges, where the light that enters through windows is often scarce, it may be a real challenge to grow plants indoors unless they are positioned within a foot or two of windows basking in bright light.
Camilleri and Kaplan emphasize that light is the most important variable where growing indoor plants is concerned. They offer two easy ways to measure it.
“We recommend trying a light meter app which you can download straight to your smartphone and will suffice for most indoor gardeners.” I checked and found several light meter apps that you can download at no charge and several others that cost $0.99. Another way to measure light availability is “the shadow test, which requires nothing more than a piece of paper. On a sunny day place the piece of paper in the spot you would like to position your plant. Hold your hand around twelve inches above the paper to reveal a shadow. A dark, clearly defined shadow with clean edges suggests bright light. . . a fuzzier shadow where you can still make out the shape of your hand . . . would be medium light. If the shape of the hand is very poorly defined, you’re looking at a low light situation.”
In “Indoor Jungle,” plant selections and combinations are suggested for every room of the house and for protected outdoor spaces, too. Each design concept is richly illustrated with photographs. The book helps you identify your “plant style” and guides you in the selection of containers for your jungle specimens, as well as providing basic information on indoor plant care.
The most intriguing feature of “Indoor Jungles” comes at the end of the book where the challenges of indoor plant growers are candidly confessed, with photos to accompany their narratives.
Janneke Luursema cautions against taking on too many plants at once:
“I think being surrounded by houseplants is a healthy thing but only if you can manage to give them the care they need. You don’t want it to become a chore.”
Nick Simonyi has a healthy attitude towards his horticultural failures:
“I’ve killed more than my fair share of indoor plants; it’s all about learning and adapting . . . to find what makes each individual plant happy.”
The testimony of Jane Rose Lloyd, and how her preoccupation with plants has become part of her life story, is particularly illuminating.
“I would be so happy to be the poster woman for the positive relationship between plants and mental health,” she revealed. “I’ve experienced a life-long journey with mental health issues and I know I will never be completely free of them, but discovering plants truly saved my life. They helped me to understand my purpose and have given me something I will happily spend the rest of my life doing. Of all the various methods of therapy and counseling I’ve tried over five years, plants have been the most consistently beneficial form of therapy. For me, plants are magical!”
I was fascinated by two tropical cacti profiled by the authors. Although botanically related to desert-dwelling cacti, tropical cacti prefer humid surroundings and are well suited to steamy bathrooms and kitchens that enjoy bright, but indirect, light. One of these is known as mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis baccifera) on account of its tree canopy habitat. The difference is that true mistletoe – the kind you see locally on sycamore, birch, ash, poplar, and oak trees – is a parasite, rooting into tree branches, while mistletoe cactus is an epiphyte, rooting in debris that settles in the crotches of tropical tree limbs. Mistletoe cactus consists of nothing but skinny, pendulous stems that, in the tropics, may reach thirty feet in length. Rhipsalis is the only cactus genus with species found outside the Western hemisphere, in Africa and Sri Lanka. Tree fern cactus (Selenicereus chrysocardium) is an epiphyte that will remind you of sword fern or Boston fern except the lobes of tree fern cactus leaves are considerably larger with wider gaps between them.
Tip of the Week: Purple shamrock (Oxalis triangularis/regnellii) is extolled by the authors of “Indoor Jungle.” I have long advocated use of this plant as a selection that no shade garden should be without. Outdoors, its large, triangular, deep violet foliage is nearly always visible, except for a brief annual dormancy period. Indoors, it experiences dormancy once every 2-7 years. Flowers are pale mauve. Once you plant purple shamrock, you will have it forever, since it propagates itself continuously from bulbs. It should be noted that this plant is toxic to cats and dogs.
By Daniel Heimpel
The first recorded sign of trouble in the brief life of Noah Cuatro came before he was even born. In August 2014, when his mother was nine months pregnant with Noah, she allegedly threw her baby sister in her crib, fracturing the 10-month-old’s skull in two places.
Shortly after Noah was born, workers with Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services removed him and another young sibling from their turmoil-filled home. It would be the first of two stints in foster care.
He was returned home in 2014, but reentered care in August 2017 after county workers found his parents — Ursula Juarez and Jose Cuatro — had medically neglected the toddler. Eventually, in November 2018, the juvenile court ordered Noah returned home, over the objections of DCFS.
Social workers last saw Noah this year in late June. Two weeks later, on July 6, the 4-year-old Palmdale boy was dead. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested Noah’s parents on Sept. 26, and the District Attorney’s Office charged them with murder and torture four days later.
While DCFS social workers figured prominently in the life of Noah and others like him in high-profile abuse cases, his death also raises questions about what role law enforcement plays in protecting vulnerable children.
New data provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office shows just how disparate that response is across the county’s 46 law enforcement agencies. For Noah, who spent most of his short life in the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department, the number of cases of child abuse that are not investigated stands out.
Data from the district attorney shows that, from January 2018 to July 2019, the LAPD did not investigate nearly 4,000 allegations of serious child abuse fielded by its stations or generated through a countywide electronic cross-reporting system dubbed E-SCARS. In 2018, L.A. police did not investigate 10% of the 24,000-plus reports it received from the two sources, while the percentage climbed to 13% in the first half of 2019.
By comparison, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded to child abuse reports 97% of the time during the same 18-month period, though it fielded only 71% as many calls.
Most of those reports are sent to law enforcement by DCFS, and are limited to “allegations of sexual abuse, physical abuse, severe neglect, emotional abuse, and exploitation,” according to agency policy guidelines.
“When we are talking about physical and sexual abuse, we are talking about potential crimes,” said Michal Nash, executive director of the county’s Office of Child Protection. “Do you only want some of them investigated or do you want them all investigated? The answer is pretty self-apparent. You are talking about crimes on children, after all.”
Asked why the LAPD failed to investigate thousands of child abuse reports, Media Relations Director Josh Rubenstein said in an email statement:
“Our officers and detectives work tirelessly to investigate claims of abuse; however, we cannot make a broad brush comment without looking at each individual case in context to understand the details of the investigations.”
On April 17 and May 15, while the Cuatro family was living in the North Hills area of Los Angeles, DCFS’ Child Protection Hotline fielded two separate allegations of sexual abuse against Noah, and domestic violence within the home. Those allegations were transmitted through E-SCARS to the LAPD, according to Nash.
Nash, who is coordinating a countywide effort to improve law enforcement’s response to suspected child abuse, came across these reports while investigating Noah’s death for a report that delivered to the Board of Supervisors earlier this month. Although he requested details from the police, Nash said “no information has been received on what, if any, action was taken by LAPD in response to those reports.”
LAPD officials would not answer questions on Noah’s case, instead directing a reporter to file a public records request. Although that request has been filed, it can take weeks or months to receive a reply.
Sometime after the last report of sexual abuse against Noah in May, his family moved to Palmdale. On July 5, Noah’s parents called 911, claiming the boy had drowned in the pool of their apartment complex.
But Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found “what looked like a trauma on the body inconsistent with what the explanation was for the cause of death,” spurring a homicide investigation.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office acknowledges it can be difficult to compare responses between different law enforcement agencies.
“The discrepancy between law enforcement ‘no investigation’ percentages may be attributed to a number of factors, including differing internal agency response,” said district attorney’s spokeswoman Shiara Davila-Morales in an email.
Officials from both LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department said their policies are to send officers out to investigate all suspected reports of child abuse. In the event of duplicate reports, or when officers are unable to make contact with a family, some child abuse reports can be marked “no investigation.”
The two agencies also have different structures to deploy officers. While the LAPD has a centralized 50-member child abuse section, the Sheriff’s Department has about 60 investigator positions broken into six teams across the county.
Importantly, the discrepancies from agency to agency also are apparent from station to station within the LAPD.
Officers at the department’s 77th Division in South L.A rolled on less than 80% of the calls alleging child abuse in 2018 and 2019. At the same time, the Rampart Division, which ranges across Silver Lake, Echo Park, Koreatown, Pico-Union and Westlake, responded to 98% of its child abuse alerts. Ostensibly, the volume of calls is a contributing factor in the disparity.
In L.A. County’s Service Provision Area 4, which includes Rampart Division, four children already on the radar of child protection workers were killed by family or caregivers from 2015 to 2018. In Service Provision Area 6, which includes South L.A., 20 children known to DCFS were similarly killed during the same time period.
Reid Lidow, a deputy press secretary for Mayor Eric Garcetti, said in an email: “The LAPD has a swift, thorough process for investigating allegations of child abuse, and is strongly committed to bringing abusers to justice.”
County Supervisor Kathryn Barger voiced her desire to see law enforcement across the county respond more uniformly to reports of child abuse.
“We are communicating and actually addressing some of the disparities that are taking place,” Barger said. “If it means modifying or restructuring on both sides, there is very much open dialogue to look at that, for the greater good.”
In 2013, the LAPD investigated 74% of the suspected child abuse cases it received, while it now responds to nearly 90%. The Long Beach Police Department — which failed to investigate nearly half of the abuse reports it received that year — is now the most responsive in the county. In 2018 and the first half of 2019, Long Beach police investigated every call of abuse it received.
Long Beach police Sgt. Daniel Mendoza credits E-SCARS, which stands for Electronic Suspected Child Abuse Reporting System, for driving the change.
“Now there is a system of checks and balances and we are able to manage and be accountable for every call,” Mendoza said.
Before E-SCARS was launched in 2009, law enforcement and county social workers often lost reports or did not see them for days or weeks, according to officials familiar with the system. E-SCARS was supposed to make cross-reporting instantaneous, so law enforcement and DCFS are alerted immediately.
While E-SCARS was an improvement, it had a tiny budget and small staff, limiting its effectiveness.
That changed when law enforcement’s role in child abuse became front-page news with the horrific 2013 murder of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, also in Palmdale. L.A. County’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection, impaneled to dig into how the maltreatment of Gabriel and other children was repeatedly missed, zeroed in on the “failure by some law enforcement entities to cross-report Suspected Child Abuse Reports.”
Since then, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has boosted spending on E-SCARS and its aged technology. “We have gone from AOL dial-up to the iPhone 10 in the course of five years,” said Brad McCartt, who now leads the unit, earlier this year.
Detective Maria Singh, a supervisor with LAPD’s child abuse section, said her unit is vigilant when reports of child abuse show up on E-SCARS.
“When these (suspected child abuse report) are being received in our office, they are being dispatched on,” Singh said. “We have done a lot of justice for these children who have undergone horrific physical or sexual abuse. It just keeps me going.”
Singh said about 50 detectives and investigators in LAPD are solely focused on child abuse, and she is on call 24/7.
In February, the Sheriff’s Department and DCFS launched a pilot project aimed at stopping serious child abuse in Lancaster and Palmdale, wracked by the deaths of Gabriel in 2013, 10-year-old Anthony Avalos in 2018 and Noah this year. There, deputies and child abuse investigators are rolling out together on calls of severe child abuse or neglect.
Through July, these small teams have conducted 261 joint responses. In August, DCFS, the Sheriff’s Department and LAPD all sat down to discuss expanding the program out beyond Lancaster and Palmdale, according to a recent report by the Office of Child Protection.
But a persistent problem identified by the Blue Ribbon Commission in 2014 — and in a report by the OCP issued after the death of Anthony in 2018 — is a lack of consistency in how law enforcement agencies and DCFS interact in child abuse investigations.
Nash’s goal is to create a protocol that clearly delineates the roles of each.
“OK, they both mutually reported to E-SCARS. The question is then what?” Nash said. “It is the ‘then what’ that I am concerned about.”
This story was published in partnership with The Chronicle of Social Change, a national news site focused on children, youth and families.
LOS ANGELES — It was pretty much done. USC was up 27 points early in the fourth quarter, approaching what would have been its first shutout since that 50-0 number on UCLA eight years ago.
Still, the homecoming crowd of 53,826 didn’t get the pick-me-up bouquet it wanted.
Too many injuries, to the point that the cart driver was the leading ground gainer.
Too much suspended animation in the offense.
And too much contempt for Arizona, which was barely a speed bump for the Trojans’ pass rushers. The fan base knew that much better competition was awaiting the Trojans, particularly Oregon on Nov. 2 and Arizona State the week after.
The game needed a conversation piece, a shot of whipped cream, a little Irish coffee.
Kenan Christon, No. 23, took Kedon Slovis’ handoff and skipped through the hole and activated his gearbox. With all the subtlety of a John Force funny car ride, he went 55 yards for a touchdown.
On the next drive, Christon watched Slovis hit Drake London for 32 yards, then got another handoff and made the final 30 yards disappear. That was another touchdown.
USC won, 41-14, and is now 4-3 and still walking a tightrope, in terms of winning the Pac-12 South and making whatever case can be made for the continued employment of Clay Helton.
Christon wasn’t the MVP, but he gave you something to talk about.
“I was just ready whenever they needed me,” Christon said, after his first collegiate action turned into 103 yards in eight carries. “I’m just preparing the right way and trying to stay focused.”
There was little warning that Christon’s preparation would lead him to the field. USC had Vavae Malepeai, who got hurt last week, and then Stephen Carr, who hurt his hamstring but said it wasn’t serious, and then Markese Stepp, the incredibly hulking touchdown maker who hurt an ankle, and nobody pretended that wasn’t serious.
The next back was Quincy Jountti, the transfer from Sacramento State, but he fumbled his first carry.
But not every team has a California 100 and 200 meter sprint champion serving as a footnote on the depth chart.
Christon’s first touchdown was part of a cloudburst of big second-half plays, highlighted by a 54–yard bomb from Slovis to Michael Pittman that set up a 6-yard flip to Tyler Vaughns for the score.
Its real value was psychological. As the USC secondary bulged with first-year freshmen, and as Carr and Stepp and safety Talanoa Hufanga and defensive end Drake Jackson went down, Christon’s run was a signal of how full the Trojan pantry is.
“That first one, I just followed my blockers and finished my run,” Christon said.
Once Christon found space, running backs coach Mike Jinks announced “Touchdown!” on the sideline.
“I didn’t even see him hit the hole,” center Brent Neilon said, “and then I look up and he’s the end zone. I was just thinking, ‘Dang, he’s got some wheels.’ He’s got those little wing tattoos on his legs. He deserves to have them for sure.”
“It’s hard to judge his speed,” Helton said. “The routes that the safety and the corner took on that first touchdown, you could tell that it wasn’t happening for them. It’s nice to have that feeling, knowing that if he’s even, he’s leavin’. It’s good to see.”
Christon ran 10.30 in the state meet in Clovis, running down Notre Dame’s Christian Grubb for the win, and then won the 200 with 20.69. The 100 time tied a state record set by Riley Washington, of Southwest HIgh in San Diego.
“Sprinting keeps me fast for football,” Christon said. “It keeps me explosive. And then football builds strength for track.”
He averaged 11.1 yards a pop for Madison High as a junior. In his final two seasons there he scored 28 touchdowns and topped 2,000 yards.
“Track is the best thing for a football player,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time. “A lot of players don’t want to run track because they’re scared to lose. But you can’t win if you don’t go out.
“My style is one cut and boom. Once I get my daylight, it’s kind of over.”
Still, the phrase “next man up” isn’t supposed to mean “next freshman up.” What was already a young secondary held Arizona to 72 net passing yards through three quarters. Nine Trojan defenders participated in the seven sacks.
With all the talk of Christon’s wheels, there was the sobering sight of the cart. Drake Jackson, the freshman pass rusher, had a walking boot on his left foot and entered the locker room with a crutch. Riding next to him was JT Daniels, the quarterback once upon a time, who is on crutches after his ACL surgery.
Stepp and safety Hufanga (shoulder) didn’t look probable for next week. Carr said he was, that his hamstring was merely a tweak.
“It’s bittersweet,” Helton said. “You hate to have all those injuries, because we feel like every game is like a championship game for us now. But like I’ve been saying, we’ve got a lot of good football players on this team. This is going to be a good team for a long time.”
Or, when Christon gets the ball, a very short time.
Three miles north of the original, a second Costco gas station is headed for Tustin.
Approved by the City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 15, the coming attraction has drawn protests from many who live nearby in the neighborhood of Tustin Ranch.
“There will be a huge increase in traffic,” Charlie Mazza told City Council members. “It isn’t going to be just Costco members already in the area, but people from all over stopping off freeways.”
Last summer, Mazza helped organize Protect Tustin Ranch after the Planning Commission gave a green light to the 16-pump station – adjacent to a Costco store on the same lot. Each pump can service two vehicles at a time.
The residents appealed to the council the commission’s recommendation of the proposed gas station, which will replace a former auto parts center.
Opponents complained the project had not been adequately vetted for potential impacts to traffic, air, soil and groundwater. Some houses sit within 700 feet of the property, located at Tustin Ranch Road and Bryan Avenue off the 5 Freeway.
“I’m concerned about the effects of car exhaust on my daughter, who has a breathing ailment,” a resident said, emphasizing that she lives one-fourth mile from the project “as the wind blows.”
City officials said staffers have vetted the project.
As part of an existing commercial use, the development qualifies for exemptions from some California Environmental Quality Act studies, said Erica Demkowicz, senior planner for Tustin.
After listening to more than a dozen neighbors express concerns, council members voted 4-1 to let the project proceed.
In his comments, Councilman Allan Bernstein noted that he lives in Tustin Ranch and has faced major health issues in recent years. Still, he said, he is “comfortable” with the project.
“Given the public outcry, the city looked at every possible angle,” Bernstein said. “We are not making these decisions in a vacuum.”
When Councilwoman Letitia Clark asked about further exploring the project’s environmental impact, Community Development Director Elizabeth Binsack said: “We would come to the same conclusions.”
Councilman Austin Lumbard admitted to reservations about the gas station. “This is a tough one,” he said, adding he lives near the Costco by The District at Tustin Legacy shopping center and witnesses the traffic jams around its station.
“It’s not the best, but I’m not one to intervene in the free market,” Lumbard said.
With 11 pumps, and two vehicles per pump, The District’s Costco station is smaller than Tustin Ranch’s will be. Critics say cars continually back up on the street as drivers wait to enter.
Diana Salazar, director of real estate development for Costco, suggested the second gas station would “reduce lines at The District.” Furthermore, the new location will have more access points for entering and exiting the station to avoid overflow, she said.
Ultimately, Barry Cooper was the lone council member to dissent. “Costco is a blessing to Tustin, but what has it done to alleviate traffic at The District?” he said. “I don’t think traffic will flow as well as some have said it will.”
In an interview after the meeting, Mazza said he and neighbors will file a CEQA appeal through their attorney: “We are not giving up.”
