Sunday, March 31, 2019
Vela gets 1st career MLS hat trick in LAFC win
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Carlos Vela capped his first career MLS hat trick with a curling shot from distance and Los Angeles FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes 5-0 on Saturday.
Vela has six goals and three assists in five games this season.
LAFC (4-0-1) opened the scoring in the eighth minute by capitalizing on a goalkeeper mistake as Daniel Vega whiffed on a clearance attempt and Vela walked it into the back of the net in the eighth minute. Vela added a goal in first-half stoppage time by redirecting home a cross if front of the goal, and he had the goal of the match in the 66th.
Former San Jose defender Steven Beitashour got past the defense for a through ball in the 26th and poked it inside the far post for a 2-0 lead. Diego Rossi scored a relatively easy goal to cap the scoring in the 68th, and Tyler Miller kept his first clean sheet of the season against San Jose (0-4-0).
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Long Beach State sweeps UC Irvine in men’s volleyball
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LONG BEACH – All three set sweeps in volleyball aren’t necessarily as one-sided as they look.
Long Beach State took a 28-26, 26-24 and 25-14 win over UC Irvine at the Walter Pyramid Saturday night, the first two sets coming down to a sliver of good play and good fortune by the 49ers.
The No. 2 ranked 49ers, who beat the Anteaters in four sets Friday in Irvine, used 13 kills, three aces, three digs and a block from Kyle Ensing for their Saturday win. TJ DeFalco and Nick Amado had nine kills each and Josh Tuaniga had nine digs and 36 assists without an error.
“Those were two good back-to-back wins against a good team that battled,” head coach Alan Knipe said after the win that improved the 49ers to 21-1 and 6-0 in Big West play.
“Our offense struggled in the first set but our serving and defense bailed us out. I always say that if one part of your game isn’t working, the other parts can sometimes be that which gets it going. We showed a lot of grit and fight to come back to win the second set.”
“We do find energy late in matches, but we really want to punch the opponent in the face in the first set, and make them play our game,” said libero Jordan Molina.
The first set saw both teams use runs to get a lead or get back into the game – the 49ets an early 5-0 and late 6-1, and UC Irvine a 4-0 ad 5-1 of their own. The set was tied at 20 when the 49ers finally were able to subdue the Anteaters. They had four set-point opportunities but the Anteaters rallied for ties each time.
Tied at 26, Ensing dropped a back row kill and Irvine’s Aaron Koubi’s kill attempt caught the antennae to give the 49ers the set. UC Irvine challenged the call but the replay monitor wasn’t conclusive enough to change the initial call.
UC Irvine outplayed the 49ers for most of the second set. They had a three-point lead midway through and sustained that edge to a 22-18 lead. The set could have been over if the Anteaters hadn’t committed seven service errors.
Long Beach hit the accelerator and outscored UC Irvine 8-2 down the stretch. DeFalco had a kill and an ace to start it and Ensing had back-to-back kills, sandwiched around two Irvine errors. Down 24-23, Ensing scored to tie it, Amado was at the center of a triple block of UC Irvine’s Joel Apfelbach, and the Anteaters muffed DeFalco’s serve on game point.
The 49ers ran off to a quick 9-4 lead in the third set and used an 8-2 run to end the set and claim the match. It was the seventh loss in eight matches for UC Irvine (14-9), who has been without outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller for four matches with an arm injury.
Schneidmiller was the freshman of the year in the Big West in 2018 and led the Anteaters in kills with a 3.6 average and a team-high 41 aces.
“In this situation, you gave a Plan A if he plays and a Plan B if he doesn’t,” Knipe said. “You don’t usually have access to injury information so you prepare for anything.”
UC Irvine expects Schneidmiller to return but has no timetable. “The fortunate thing about the injury is the timing,” Anteaters coach David Kniffin said. “We got to test the adjustments we have to make against a great team. I thought we played well enough to win the first two sets.
“It would be a strong statement to say anyone is comparable to TJ (DeFalco), but Joel has been a big part of our success and our identity. I’ve stressed to the team that we need to play the best brand of UC Irvine volleyball while he’s out, which I think can be competitive with anyone.”
The 49ers have four regular seasons games left, a home-and-home with UC San Diego next weekend and then two home games against No. 1-ranked Hawaii April 12-13.
UC Irvine has home-and-home matches against Northridge and UC Santa Barbara to end their season. The Big West Tournament, which all six teams compete for, is April 18-20 at Hawaii.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Drew Doughty’s OT goal lifts Kings past Chicago
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LOS ANGELES – Trying to stay classy during this non-playoff season, the Kings on Saturday night showed some character against a Chicago Blackhawks team desperately trying to stay in the Western Conference playoff race.
Down a goal late, Michael Amadio tied the game for the Kings at 15:45 of the third period. Drew Doughty then scored a power-play goal with just 12 seconds left in the overtime period to lift the Kings to a 3-2 victory over Chicago before 18,230 at Staples Center.
The Kings had two fourth-line goals – by Austin Wagner and Amadio – and a fine performance from goalie Jack Campbell, who made 33 saves.
That was not lost on Doughty.
“I think we just all played together,” Doughty said. “And, obviously, ‘Soup’ kept us in it with some big saves. He played well all game and only allowed them to get two goals, so that was a big part of it.
“But, yeah, we just played together and we didn’t give up and our fourth line got us two big goals, too. … That was huge by them; they don’t get a lot of minutes.”
Wagner played 7:06, Amadio 7:48.
The Kings are 29-40-9 (67 points). They went 3-0 this season against the Blackhawks.
Chicago (34-33-11, 79 points) earned a point and is six points out of a playoff spot with four games to play.
Even though his team has been eliminated from playoff contention, Campbell was able to take some joy from this victory.
“Regardless of where the season is, I mean, it is frustrating, but any time you win it feels great,” he said. “I mean, that’s a really good team and they’re fighting for their life over there.
“We knew they would come out and play really hard. And I thought we played great. Fortunately the boys played really, really well in front of me. It feels good to win in overtime, for sure.”
Chicago took a 1-0 lead at 1:38 of the second period on Alex DeBrincat’s 41st goal of the season. The puck might have gone in off the stick of a Kings player. Officially, assists went to Patrick Kane and Artem Anisimov.
It was the 105th point of the season for Kane.
That goal was not nearly as electrifying as the one scored by Kings rookie Austin Wagner to tie the game at 16:05 of the period.
Wagner took a pass at the defensive blue line and, using his tremendous speed, blew by everybody as he skated in on goalie Corey Crawford and put it past him from point-blank range.
The crowd went wild.
Jeff Carter and Matt Roy assisted.
Kings interim coach Willie Desjardins marveled at Wagner’s 12th of the season.
“It’s exciting,” Desjardins said. “The speed’s such a big part of the game and every once in a while he just takes off and makes something out of nothing. It wasn’t like there was anything there. He just made it there because of his speed.”
The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead at 3:09 of the third period on Erik Gustafsson’s 17th of the season. Gustafsson scored on a long shot that seemed to disappear past Campbell, who barely reacted as if to suggest he was screened out and didn’t see the puck.
But this was the Kings’ night, and they weren’t about to roll over.
Amadio made sure of that when he scored his fifth of the season at 15:45 to tie the game 2-2. Trevor Lewis and Kyle Clifford had the assists, and the table was set for Doughty’s overtime heroics. His game-winner was his seventh goal of the season.
Tyler Toffoli and Anze Kopitar assisted Doughty.
Gustafsson was ticked about the defeat.
“It sucks,” he said. “Three minutes left with a one-goal lead and we lose in overtime. We’ve got to be better, we’ve got to close the game.”
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County baseball/softball highlights for Saturday, March 30
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Highlights and top performers from the Orange County baseball and softball games on Saturday, March 30.
BASEBALL
Saturday’s baseball scoreboard
Ryan Lemmon Spring Invitational
Cory Lewis hit a two-run homer in the first inning to start No. 20 Marina on its way to a 5-1 win over Pacifica on opening day of the Ryan Lemmon Spring Invitational at Great Park. Michael Turner (1-1) pitched four innings for the win, and Bradley Coots and Matt Wilson finished it off.
Laguna Beach rallied for six runs over the last three innings to knock off No. 9 Capistrano Valley 7-4. The Breakers trailed 4-1 through four innings but took the lead with a four-run sixth. Kolton Freeman was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI, and Jeremy Hayes drove in two runs without a hit. Peyton Fullerton got the win, holding Capo to two hits and no runs over the last 3 2/3 innings.
Matt Vogel allowed just two hits in five innings and No. 22 Yorba Linda beat Los Alamitos 6-2. Ryan Brech doubled and tripled and Blake Wink doubled and singled for the Mustangs (12-6).
Yoni Bracha pitched a two-hitter and Cameron Hicks’ walk-off sacrifice fly in the seventh inning gave Irvine a 2-1 win over Centennial/Corona. Marc Filia had two of the Vaqueros’ six hits. Leonard Memon drove in the other run for Irvine (11-5).
Jose Rodriguez tossed a three-hitter and Jackson LoBianco drove in both runs in University’s 2-0 win over El Modena.
Santa Ana Elks Tournament
Elijah Wilson allowed two hits over 5 1/3 innings as Orange blanked Ontario Christian 3-0. Jonny Long was 3-for-3 with two RBI and struck out three of the five batters he faced to finish off the win.
Kennedy rallied late to force extra innings, then beat Estancia 5-4 with a walk-off run in the 10th. The Fighting Irish were down 4-0 before scoring two runs in the sixth and two more in the bottom of the seventh to tie it. Johnny Soto (3-for-5) and Sebastian McSherry (2-for-4) each drove in two runs. Tyler Beckler got the win with four innings of scoreless relief, scattering four hits.
SOFTBALL
Saturday’s softball scoreboard
Alan Dugard Woodbridge Tournament
Talia Hannappel tossed a four-inning no-hitter to lead No. 8 Edison past host Woodbridge 10-0 in the Alan Dugard Tournament at Bill Barber Park. Hannappel walked one and struck out five of the 13 batters she faced. Bella Espinoza supplied much of the offense with three hits and four RBI. Bella Martinez doubled and homered.
No. 9 Esperanza won two games in just eight innings of work. Sabrina Seaton drove in seven runs and Maddie Schmidt added five RBI as the Aztecs thrashed Northwood 16-1 in four innings. Seaton doubled and homered, and Schmidt blasted another home run in the Aztecs’ 16-hit attack. Winning pitcher Emily Gomez surrendered a home run to Amber Kurtz in the second inning but allowed Northwood just one other hit while striking out five in three innings. Esperanza (13-5) then mercied Burbank 11-1 as Gomez pitched a four-inning two-hitter. Schmidt doubled and tripled. Jillian Grimes drove in four runs with a single and double.
Nonleague
Trabuco Hills swept a doubleheader from host Newport Harbor, 3-0 and 9-6. Lindsey Manhart pitched a five-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts in the opener, and Jessie Lloyd went 3-for-4 with a double. Lindsey Blanchfield had three of Newport’s five hits. Lloyd added two more hits in the second game and Manhart doubled, homered and drove in five runs for the Mustangs (7-7). Blanchfield was 4-for-4 with two RBI to complete a 7-for-7 day at the plate for the Sailors (13-7). Eliana Gottlieb was 3-for-4 in the second game.
Coaches and team representatives are encouraged to email their scores and stats after every game to the Register at preps@ocregister.com.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Angels rally comes up short in loss to A’s
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OAKLAND — Depending on your point of view, the Angels’ promising rally came to an end because of Blake Treinen, Justin Bour or Chris Guccione.
Whether you give credit to the Oakland A’s All-Star closer, blame the Angels hitter or accuse the umpire of making a questionable call, the end result was the same.
The Angels, who had the potential tying run on base in the eighth inning, came up empty and lost 4-2 to the A’s on Saturday night.
“Really I have no one to blame but myself,” Bour said. “I didn’t get it done. You can argue balls and strikes and all that stuff. Really at the end of the day it’s a matter of getting it done, and I haven’t and didn’t there. Was it in the zone? No, but I still didn’t get the job done.”
Bour, who gave credit to Treinen for being “one of the best closers in the game,” stepped to the plate just after the Angels had cut a 4-0 deficit to 4-2, scoring a couple of runs on a Mike Trout sacrifice fly and an Andrelton Simmons RBI single.
The A’s then summoned Treinen to try for a five-out save. Albert Pujols greeted him with a single, which left runners at the corners for Bour.
Bour got ahead 3-and-0, and then Treinen threw three straight pitches outside, a called strike, a foul, and then a third one that Bour took. He started toward first, but Guccione rung him up.
“I just didn’t get it done,” Bour said. “You can argue all you want the 3-2, but I didn’t get it done.”
Manager Brad Ausmus said he wasn’t sure in real time whether the pitch was a strike, but after watching the replay after the game, he felt the called strikes were probably outside.
“For me, they were a little off,” Ausmus said. “It would have been nice to get the calls. But calls go both ways. I thought they were a little off, but that’s part of the game.”
After Bour struck out, Jonathan Lucroy hit a popup to end the inning. The Angels went down in order in the ninth, ending a frustrating night that started off in such promising fashion.
The Angels had four baserunners in the first three innings, seemingly right on A’s lefty Brett Anderson, but they let him wiggle free without any runs.
Angels starter Felix Peña dominated the A’s lineup, retiring the first eight hitters, but it got away from him with two outs in the third.
Peña gave up a bloop single to No. 9 hitter Josh Phegley, and then he gave up a single, hit a batter and gave up a two-run single to Stephen Piscotty.
An inning later, Peña left a fastball over the middle of the plate that Mark Canha blasted for a two-run homer, ending his night.
“He seemed to lose command of his offspeed pitches,” Ausmus said. “The fastball was fine, but it seemed like the breaking ball and changeup, especially the breaking ball, he had trouble with command.”
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Saturday, March 30, 2019
Orange Lutheran bounces back from tough loss to capture La Mirada tournament
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LA MIRADA Sometimes the best way to bounce back from a frustrating loss is to quickly play another game.
Or two.
Orange Lutheran’s softball team, ranked No. 1 in Orange County, won twice Saturday to capture its first title at the La Mirada tournament and “flush” away its misery from Friday.
The Lancers (12-4-1) beat Ayala, ranked No. 1 in Division 2, 7-2 in the semifinals and pulled away late to defeat Division 1 newcomer Santa Fe 7-3 in the finals at La Mirada High.
On Friday, Orange Lutheran lost 1-0 at Santa Margarita, stranding the tying run at second base in the seventh inning with standout Ciara Briggs on deck.
“It was good to come out today and kind of get that past us,” Orange Lutheran coach Steve Miklos said. “We flushed that (loss) and moved on. … It was good for us to get some work in today.”
The Lancers worked harder against Santa Fe (14-4-1) than the score suggested.
Miranda Stoddard snapped a 1-1 tie by leading off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, her second of the day, to center field off sophomore Courtney Callison.
Cya later! @mirstoddard blasts solo homer to center and @OLuSoftball leads Santa Fe 2-1 thru 5th in La Mirada tourney final @ocvarsity @OLu_Athletics @OLuPerformance @olubaseball
pic.twitter.com/GOx4f9SfUS
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) March 30, 2019
Orange Lutheran erupted for five in the sixth inning to chase Callison. Briggs sparked the outburst with a hard RBI single off the second baseman for her fifth hit of the day. The LSU-bound senior and Brenna Begin scored one batter later on a wild pitch and error.
Santa Fe responded with two runs in the seventh against Taryn Lennon (3-0) but the junior right-hander earned the complete-game victory. She scattered five hits and walked three.
“Yesterday, I was pretty (upset) after the game. I hate losing,” Briggs said. “We did pretty well (Saturday) for the most part. There were some times when we were a little dead but we picked it up. We picked each other up when people made errors or didn’t hit. … We did a good job staying after it.”
Briggs went 2 for 4 with two RBI in the final. Mya Rodriguez, Victoria Fragoso and Begin each added two hits apiece.
In the semifinals, Mia Bagatourian (4-2) allowed only two hits and struck out eight with one walk. Briggs went 3 for 3 with two doubles and finished the day 5 for 7. Stoddard also with 3 for 3 with a double, home run and two RBI.
Santa Fe, which won Division 4 last season, edged Division 2-ranked La Mirada 4-2 in the semifinals on a walk-off, two-run home run by shortstop Danielle Ramirez, a senior bound for Cal State Dominguez Hills.
“A lot of teams take us lightly because we were Division 4 … but my team is a scrappy little team,” second-year Santa Fe coach A.J. Reyes said. “We’re doing this with a bunch of youngsters. … They’re learning a lot. They’re getting better.”
Orange Lutheran not only “flushed” the Santa Margarita loss, it built important momentum for next week. The Lancers play host to reigning Trinity League champion Mater Dei on Tuesday and face the Carew Classic.
“I’m glad we didn’t have that loss (Friday) and go into Mater Dei on Tuesday without playing any games,” Miklos said. “We have a tough week.”
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County scores and player stats for Saturday (3-30-19)
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Scores and stats for the Orange County games on Saturday, March 30.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
CHICK FIL A TOURNAMENT
Canyon def. Cerritos, 25-21, 18-25, 17-15
Classical Academy def. Canyon, 2-0
Cerritos def. Yorba Linda, 25-23, 25-14
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5How much nuclear power the U.S. generates might surprise you
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Miles down the road
The most serious accident in a U.S. power plant occurred 40 years ago, and even though the small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects, the emergency helped heighten awareness and oversight.
A combination of equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and worker errors led to the Three Mile Island reactor’s partial meltdown on March 28, 1979. The event brought about changes involving emergency response planning and radiation protection and significantly enhanced U.S. reactor safety. The accident put the hold on nuclear power expansion for about 20 years.
The first commercial nuclear reactor in the U.S. came online in 1957. More than 30 reactors have been retired.
The Trump administration has approved seven applications for U.S. companies to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, the Energy Department said Thursday.
U.S. nuclear power in 2019
According to the world Nuclear Association, the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30 percent of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity.
In 2018, U.S. reactors produced about 19.3 percent of total electrical output.
It has been 30 years since new reactors were built, but two new units are expected to come online in 2019 and 2020 in Georgia.
The U.S. has 98 operating nuclear power reactors in 30 states, operated by 30 power companies. The average U.S. nuclear power plant is about 38 years old.
California nuclear power
After the shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station in 2013, the state has one nuclear power station, Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo. The Diablo Canyon reactors are expected to close by 2025.
Highest generation ever
Despite closures, U.S. nuclear electricity generation in 2018 surpassed its previous peak. The increase in spite of several reactor closers is said to be due to shorter refueling and maintenance cycles. Output is expected to decline as much as 17 percent by 2025.
Nuclear landscape
There are 59 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 98 nuclear reactors in 30 U.S. states.
Reactors around the world
Waste case
U.S. commercial nuclear power production and nuclear weapons production have resulted in growing inventories of spent nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste. Most radioactive waste is currently stored where it is made at 80 sites in 35 states.
No U.S. repository has been developed for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste. A national repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain Nevada has been debated since the 1980s but never completed.The plan for the decommissioned nuclear plant in San Onofre is to place all of the estimated 3.55 million pounds of spent fuel in what is called dry cask storage.
Commercial spent nuclear fuel in storage
June 2013
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy, U.S. government Accountability Office, Nuclear Energy Institute
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Zlatan Ibrahimovic ‘feeling good’ ahead of his Galaxy one-year anniversary
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One year ago Sunday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his debut with the Galaxy, down three goals and just days after his arrival.
What transpired in those 20-plus minutes will be forever etched in Galaxy history as Ibrahimovic scored a pair of goals, including a 35-yard strike that gave everyone the first “wow” moment in what turned into a 4-3 win over LAFC.
“I’m happy that I could play football, that was the main thing,” Ibrahimovic said. “I was happy I was able to do what I always do, going out, play with the ball, feel the grass. That I think was the best part.”
Ibrahimovic had undergone knee surgery while playing with Manchester United in 2017.
His performance last season proved he still has the ability to produce magical moments. He played in 24 games last season and scored 22 goals with 10 assists.
This season he has been slowed by an Achilles injury that has forced him out of the past two games and kept him off the training field until this week ahead of Sunday night’s game with the Portland Timbers (6 p.m.; ESPN).
Ibrahimovic’s status for Sunday night remains unclear, especially with a road game next week on artificial turf in Vancouver.
“I feel good,” he said Thursday. “Day by day, we’ll make an evaluation of how are things and how I feel, but it is going better. I feel more and more confident. I feel good, it’s all about how long I can keep it, that I don’t know. You have to find out when you’re playing.”
Ibrahimovic scored in the season opener March 2 against the Chicago Fire in a 2-1 Galaxy win. Following the game, he said he felt something in his left Achilles early in the game.
“I felt tightness and it was growing and at the end (of the game), it was too painful,” he said. “I kept playing because I had too much adrenaline. I knew I would score, so I didn’t want to step out and I wanted to win the first game, so I stayed, but I had a lot of pain.
“This is what I go through now. So take time, recover good and stay good because if I feel good enough, I’m playing. If I don’t feel good enough, I’m not playing because it gets worse.
“I’ve played 800 games, this is the first time it has happened. I’ve played on snow, grass, turf, everything, never happened.”
Although his second season has started off slowly, Ibrahimovic remains confident in the move.
“The worst part was the serious stuff, we didn’t make it to the playoffs and we were fighting for the fifth and sixth place (in the Western Conference),” he said. “That for me, I don’t fight for those places, I fight for No. 1.”
Alessandrini working his way back
Ibrahimovic wasn’t the only Designated Player who made his way back to the training field this week. Romain Alessandrini left the season opener against Chicago with a hamstring injury.
“I feel great, a little bit tired,” Alessandrini said. “The last two weeks (off) were good for me and hopefully this weekend I’ll play.
PORTLAND (0-2-1) at GALAXY (2-1)
Kickoff: 6 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park
TV/Radio: ESPN2; KTMZ/1220; LAGalaxy.com (English)
Update: The Timbers have gotten off to a surprisingly slow start and have been porous in defending, allowing a league-high 10 goals through three games. They’re playing their first 12 games on the road while Providence Park is being renovated. This is their second trip to L.A. – they were defeated by LAFC 4-1 on March 10.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Add this to Kondo-spring cleaning list: Organize your finances
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Spring is the season that we clean, organize, and purge our home of excess things. During this season we all begrudgingly sort through the past year’s receipts and statements while gathering data for our tax returns.
This task is often overwhelming because our finances are not organized. Are your receipts scattered about your home and statements piled high on your desk? If so, spend some time organizing your personal finances now while they are top of mind.
Take the time to do a bit of financial spring cleaning before the warm summer days convince you to forget about it until next year’s tax season.
Where do you begin?
— Start by making a monthly payment schedule. On this list include: company name, due date and amount due. This schedule would include estimated taxes, property taxes, insurance premiums and other relevant information. Use this as a resource to help with budgeting and planning for large expenses.
— Establish electronic billpaying through your bank for recurring bills. Set up automatic payments for your mortgage, insurance and other predictable expenses. Keep all bills that arrive by mail, such as property tax and insurance premium notices, in a designated location until they are paid.
— Schedule time to pay your bills. This may be weekly, biweekly, or monthly. During this time, read each statement to review for accuracy, pay, and then file — or throw away. For guidelines on what to keep, look at IRS Publication 17, page 16, at irs.gov.
— Implement systems to help you manage and save your important documents. This may be a manual filing system, three-ring binder, electronic scanning and storage, phone app, or a combination of a few methods. Find a system that works for you and stick with it.
— Invest in a good shredder so you can destroy statements and other correspondence that contains sensitive personal information to protect against potential fraud or identity theft.
— Open a safe deposit box or purchase a fireproof safe to store important documents such as birth certificates, marriage license, deeds, automobile registrations, estate planning documents, and passports. Tell your family members where these documents are stored and provide instructions for access in an emergency.
Prepare a budget
Begin by using the monthly payment schedule referenced above to identify your monthly expenses. Add to the list all additional discretionary expenses incurred over the course of a month.
A budget should record all the purchases we might otherwise forget about — expenses ranging from coffees at Starbucks to large annual expenses such as property tax. It creates a spending plan and provides a transparent snapshot of how you spend your money. It is a tool to assist you with living within your means by tracking all spending and with planning ahead for short- and long-term goals.
Once your budget is outlined, identify the changes that you can make to reduce your spending and debt. In addition to managing the outflow of cash, determine how you can increase your savings. This is key. Understand and implement these changes immediately, look for new opportunities to save monthly, and stay focused on your goals.
Consolidate, consolidate and consolidate
Do you have more than one checking, saving, retirement, or brokerage account? Do you need more than one of each account? Can you combine like accounts? Simplify by consolidation.
It will save you time by eliminating the need to review and file the statements for the excess accounts. Consolidation creates efficiency when preparing data to file your income taxes. Fewer accounts mean less statements to sort through, which equates to more time, focus, and energy to spend on things you enjoy.
Don’t forget about the credit cards. If you can’t easily consolidate or close cards because of outstanding balances, review the debt and interest rate of each credit card. Organize this data on a spreadsheet, including balances, payment due dates, and interest rates. To eventually close excess cards, focus on paying off the cards with the highest interest rates or lowest outstanding balances first.
Review your beneficiaries
When was the last time you reviewed the beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies? Even if you have not had any significant life changes such as a death, divorce, marriage, or birth, you should periodically review these designations. Life changes, and we do not always remember to follow up when it does.
Mortgage
If you are not aware of the terms on your mortgage, review your statement so you know the balance, interest rate, and remaining term of the loan. Does it make sense to refinance or make accelerated payments to pay off the mortgage prior to retirement? Know your options.
Communicate about finances
Plan time to talk to your partner about your finances. This may be monthly when reviewing the budget, semi-annually or annually. During this time, talk about income, expenses, savings, debt, and short- and long-term goals. Is your net worth growing or shrinking? Financial reviews are critical to address where you are now financially—and to make adjustments to stay on track for the future.
Teri Parker CFP® is a vice president for CAPTRUST Financial Advisors. She has practiced in the field of financial planning and investment management since 2000. Contact her via email at teri.parker@captrustadvisors.com
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Feng Shui revisited: Decluttering your home creates good ‘chi’ come sale time
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Spring seems like the perfect time for an update on using Fung Shui principles to get your house poised to attract the ideal buyer.
You remember what Feng Shui is, right? It’s the practice, originating in China, that brings in energy, referred to as chi, to harmonize people to their environment. So when it comes to selling houses, you want to turn up your chi in order to harmonize with as many potential buyers as possible.
Without going into the spiritual or philosophical rational for these steps, here are a few ways that translate into specific things you can do to boost your house’s chi.
First and foremost, Chi does not like clutter or chaos, and neither do prospective buyers.
De-cluttering and cleaning is the first step in the process. This means clean, clear counters in the kitchen and bathrooms, no stacks of clothes on the bedroom floors or draped on the treadmill, and no stacks of dirty plates and glasses on the bedside tables.
Now that the kitchen counters are clean, as you face your kitchen head on, find the point that is in the farthest right spot, and place two of something. You can use a vase with a pair of roses, a pair of color-coordinated salt and pepper shakers, or a pair of cook books. The important concept is the far right corner and a combination of two complementing items.
At the entrance to your home, you need to place a black door mat. It can be either an oval or a rectangle. Your front door it the mouth of your chi. And a black mat is a symbol for water, which welcomes and projects energy. Your front entrance also needs to be clean, with a spotless floor, a fresh coat of paint, and brilliant hardware.
These are all symbols of positive chi. The opposite would be a dingy doorway, with corroded hardware, dust and dirt on the door and stoop, and a raggedy old rattan mat. These are not harbingers of good chi.
At either side of your front door, you should place plants with the colors of fire. Red, orange, and pink would be preferred. Live plants in black pots are ideal, but you can use fake plants as long as the look real. Red is the color of chi, and by placing these fire-colored plants next to the mouth of chi, you’re setting the stage for maximized harmony by inviting people to enter your home.
In your yard, Feng Shui guidelines say there is nothing you can do to over-improve the land. When it comes to your house, this translates to cleaning up all fallen, dead leaves and debris in your yard. Then, take the time and make the effort to plant new, colorful, blooming plants; spread new top soil and brighten up your grass with over-seeding or fertilizing. If you have artificial grass, make sure you rake or vacuum it off and hose it down so it is sparkling clean.
Even if you don’t believe in positive energy, these tactics will make your house visually more appealing.
Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is an agent with Realty One Group. She can be reached at 949-678-3373 or leslie@leslieeskildsen.com.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Los Alamitos girls basketball coach Rich Alvarez resigns after five 20-win seasons
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Another high-profile girls basketball program in Orange County is seeking a coach.
Los Alamitos girls basketball coach Rich Alvarez, who guided the Griffins to five consecutive 20-win seasons and four Sunset League titles, has resigned, athletic director Richard Smith announced Friday.
The Griffins finished 20-9 this past season, placed second in the Surf League and lost in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs at Aliso Niguel.
Alvarez delivered one of his best seasons in 2017-18. After losing standout Cailyn Crocker to a transfer to Mater Dei, he guided Los Alamitos to a 25-7 overall record, an undefeated Sunset League record and a trip to the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals.
The Griffins also reached the SoCal regional playoffs. The team included sophomore Asia Avinger, who later transferred to Rosary.
Alvarez contended for Orange County coach of the year honors.
Los Alamitos earned a share of the Sunset League crown in 2016-17 and finished 21-7.
The Griffins went 10-0 in the Sunset League in 2015-16 en route to a 22-6 overall record.
In his first season, Alvarez led Los Alamitos to a 21-7 mark and a league crown.
Alvarez’s resignation follows the departure of Mary Rossignol at JSerra and the resignation of Stephanie Anderson at Brea Olinda.
Alvarez previously coached the varsity boys at Huntington Beach.
Please send girls basketball news to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Motivated Newport Harbor boys volleyball sweeps Corona del Mar in first league clash
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NEWPORT BEACH – The Battle of the Bay added a new chapter to its long and storied rivalry as Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar boys volleyball teams wrestled for control of the town.
The Sailors’ experience was the difference as they won in a sweep, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, Friday night in a Surf League match at Newport Harbor High.
Seniors starters Dayne Chalmers, Ryan Schroeder, Blake Ludes, Jack Higgs, Alec Patterson and Joe Karlous all contributed in the victory.
After the victory, Karlous expressed confidence that the top-ranked Sailors (27-0, 1-0) can erase the bad memories of last season’s failures against Corona del Mar (15-5, 0-1), which defeated Newport Harbor in the CIF Southern Section final and the CIF regional final in 2018.
Joe Karlous ends the game as Newport Harbor sweeps Corona del Mar, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19 to win the Battle of the Bay. @ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/5va1AXiyVp
— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) March 30, 2019
“We’ve been in so many tough games, and I hate talking about last year,” Karlous said, “but state and CIF, we’ve been there (before). We know what we need to improve on and still improve on.”
The losses to Corona del Mar a year ago were the only two defeats the Sailors suffered last season.
Newport Harbor coach Rocky Ciarelli appreciates what his senior-laden lineup brings to each game.
“Having seniors is like having veterans in the pros,” Ciarelli said. “They have experience, they understand and all these guys have been through CIF, so they know (what to expect). It helps.”
Chalmers and Higgs led the attack, especially in the early ongoing, as Chalmers collected nine kills in the first two sets.
The Sea Kings countered with outside hitter Adam Flood, Nick Alacano and Brandon Browning, but were missing senior outside hitter Max Dunk.
Although Dunk was missing, Ciarelli didn’t take Corona del Mar lightly.
“I think their other outside hitter (Brandon) Browning does a very good job and they’re still a very good team,” he said.
The Sea Kings tied the score at 14 in the first set after a 3-0 run, but the Sailors responded with a 4-1 run of their own to take the set 25-20.
Newport Harbor takes the first set over Corona del Mar, 25-20. @ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/VhCOhVCzqk
— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) March 30, 2019
Corona del Mar had a great chance to win the second set after it pulled to within 19-18 and forced a timeout by Newport Harbor. The Sailors regrouped and scored the next three points thanks to Patterson’s swings.
Newport Harbor takes a 2-0 lead over Corona del Mar by taking the second set 25-21. @ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/YVlAjgyd45
— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) March 30, 2019
Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar will their their second league match on April 17 at Corona del Mar.
The Sailors’ next game is at Huntington Beach, in a Surf League match, on Friday, April 5.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma has a deep bond with Hornets rookie Miles Bridges
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LOS ANGELES — Before the draft last summer, Miles Bridges had never spent much time in Southern California. But after being selected No. 12 overall and landing in Charlotte, he spent a week enjoying a Los Angeles summer.
His host? Kyle Kuzma.
The two share the hometown of Flint, Mich., and have spent a lot of time on the court together.
“I grew up with Kyle,” he said. “Just to see us at this level, it’s definitely a big deal for me.”
Averaging 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds off the bench for the Hornets, Bridges is a potential building block for Charlotte in the coming years. And like Kuzma, he hopes to one day be another Flint native to establish himself in the NBA.
It’s a small circle that also includes JaVale McGee, who Bridges never got to know since he was 10 years older. But he, Kuzma and Denver’s Monte Morris are all from the same generation of Michigan grassroots hoops, and they’ve tracked each other for a long time.
When Bridges was considering going pro after his freshman year at Michigan State, Kuzma – who played three years at Utah – was one of the players whose opinion he valued the most.
“I felt like the best decision for me was to stay,” Bridges said. “And he came out, and he gave me good advice on that because he stayed in college too. So I appreciated it.”
Now that they’re in the pros, Friday’s game was the second time the two forwards have faced off. Early in the first quarter, Kuzma crossed over Bridges to hit an open jumper, then playfully wagged his finger as he ran back.
Apparently, there’s more for the rookie to learn.
Beyond expanding his game, Bridges would like to get more involved in helping his hometown, which is still experiencing a water crisis. Both Kuzma and McGee have worked with nonprofits to help Flint – Bridges couldn’t help staff Kuzma’s summer camp last year because of a scheduling conflict, but he expects he’ll make it in future years.
“They definitely motivate me to do more stuff for Flint, and that’s what I’m gonna do this summer,” he said. “Seeing those guys doing what I want to do definitely inspires me.”
BORREGO, PARKER HONOR MANU GINOBILI
Even though the Hornets got two days off between games before playing the Lakers, not everyone got to enjoy the California sunshine for that fleeting break.
Instead, head coach James Borrego and veteran point guard Tony Parker flew to their old digs in San Antonio to be present for Manu Ginobili’s jersey retirement. Borrego, a former Spurs assistant, and Parker, a longtime teammate of Ginobili’s, weren’t about to miss the Argentine forward’s honor.
“I was honored just to be there: shed some tears, clap my hands, hug him,” Borrego said. “Just talk about amazing Manu stories, the type of person he is and was, and just the type of competitor he was. So it was a great moment just to be a Spur and for all of us embracing that one more time.”
Between 1999 and 2015, the Spurs or the Lakers won the Western Conference a combined 13 times, with Ginobili on hand for four San Antonio championships. He was a constant thorn in the Lakers’ side before retiring at the end of last season. Even though Ginobili came off the bench for much of his career, he’s expected to be a serious candidate for the Basketball Hall of Fame in a few years.
Both Borrego and Parker missed the Hornets’ shootaround Friday morning, but they returned well in time for tip-off.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Hennessey slugs walk-off grand slam as Marina baseball stuns Corona del Mar
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HUNTINGTON BEACH – Leave to a pitcher to end a pitchers’ duel with a grand slam.
With Marina’s Cory Lewis and Corona del Mar’s Tommy Wilcox each throwing shutouts Friday, Marina put Wilcox in a corner in the seventh inning.
Pinch hitter Chase Hennessey stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and no outs. Known for hitting deep fly balls in practice, Hennessey put a little extra on his hit.
The pitcher hit a grand slam to center field to give the Vikings a 4-0 Surf League victory over Corona del Mar at Marina High.
Postgame interview with Chase Hennessey of Marina as his walk-off Grand Slam gives the Vikings the 4-0 win!@ocvarsity @MHSVikingNews @MHSBaseballHB pic.twitter.com/hJ92qotToF
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) March 30, 2019
After pitching Wednesday in a 1-0 loss to the Sea Kings, Hennessey was waiting for a chance to get some sweet revenge.
“I’ve been waiting for that at-bat since Wednesday,” Hennessey said. “That one felt really good. That is probably my best hit of all time.”
For the first 4 1/3 innings, Marina couldn’t figure out Wilcox. He had a no-hitter going in the fifth inning until Troy Kent drove a triple to the wall in right field.
Marina (12-7, 3-2 in league) got another triple in the next inning, by Rocco Peppi, and a third one in the seventh inning, by Dylan Holt.
An intentional walk to Andrew Sojka followed Holt’s triple. The bases became loaded on an infield error on Kent’s bunt. That set up the heroic moment for Hennessey.
“He’s been showing signs in batting practice,” Marina coach Toby Hess said. “If we need a long ball, we’ll put Chase in. We didn’t necessarily need a home run, we just needed a sac fly. We knew he was confident with hitting the ball in the air. I didn’t expect anyone to hit a long ball off Wilcox.”
Post game interview with Cory Lewis of Marina as he gets the complete game shutout victory for the Vikings.@ocvarsity @MHSVikingNews @MHSBaseballHB pic.twitter.com/r2jy2n8ULA
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) March 30, 2019
Wilcox, a Tennessee commit, pitched six innings for the Sea Kings (12-5-1, 2-3), allowed four hits, walked one and struck out seven.
“I’m just proud of the guys,” Corona del Mar coach Kevin McCaffrey said. “They competed their tails off and they have been doing it for two weeks. We can take a loss like that. We played hard, but we do need to capitalize on opportunities. We had chances for three innings. Tommy pitched his tail off. That was such a great outing and give credit to their guy (Lewis). He got out of some jams. He did a great job and that is a great clutch hitting team.”
Lewis, a UC Santa Barbara commit, pitched seven innings, gave up four hits and one walk, and he struck out six.
Marina will take on Pacifica on Saturday in the Ryan Lemmon Invitational at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine.
Kieran Sidebothom went 2 for 3 for the Sea Kings.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Friday, March 29, 2019
Orange County sheriff temporarily suspends plan to erase 2-year-old emails as judge issues court order
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Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes has temporarily suspended his plan to automatically delete all department emails more than two years old, just as a judge on Friday ordered a halt to any erasures.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett prevents the sheriff from destroying emails related to the improper recording of attorney-client phone calls from the Orange County jail and to potential evidence in a burglary case for six months.
Prickett also ordered the sheriff to send a departmentwide email notifying employees of the freeze. Barnes also must retrieve emails from certain employees that might already have been deleted.
The sheriff had intended to return to the department’s old practice of erasing 2-year-old emails, which was halted in 2016 while the system was upgraded. But attorneys from the Orange County Public Defender’s Office went to court to block the erasures, fearful that critical evidence could be destroyed by a department already under a cloud for what appellate justices called “systemic” abuse by improperly using jailhouse informants.
Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders argued in court Friday that the court order was needed because Barnes’ suspension of the auto-deletion policy doesn’t stop the department’s 4,000 employees from deleting on their own. The emails cannot be retrieved 30 to 45 days after they have been deleted.
Consequently, Sanders asked for an existing temporary court order to be extended.
Annie Loo, a deputy county counsel representing the Sheriff’s Department, told the judge that the entire agency did not need to preserve its emails for just two cases.
Sanders was appearing on behalf of burglary defendant Justin Weisz. Deputy Public Defender Sara Ross was in court Friday seeking to preserve emails linked to the recorded attorney-client calls, which violate one of the most sacred tenets of the law. The improper recordings lasted three years and ended last June.
The numbers of calls have shifted over the past few months, but the phone vendor, GTL of Reston, Virginia, says 4,356 conversations between inmates and attorneys were recorded for various reasons. One of the main reasons given is that the lawyers’ phone numbers were mistakenly left off a “do-not-record” list. Other attorneys didn’t know about the list and failed to put their numbers on it.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Reparations more likely to divide nation than heal it
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SACRAMENTO – In his interminably long, but moving Atlantic essay documenting our nation’s undeniable history of discrimination against African-Americans, author Ta-Nehisi Coates got to the heart of his pro-reparations argument on page 51: “What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices – more than handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe.” Instead, he called for a “national reckoning” about this stain on America’s history.
I’ve got nothing against having such a conversation, especially at a time when white nationalists are rearing their ugly heads once again. Americans do need to understand that such discrimination didn’t just vanish in the distant past – and that everything wasn’t made right by the Civil War and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Vast inequalities, injustices and prejudices remain, which are easily documented through a variety of economic and other measures.
But approving tens of billions of dollars or more in payouts will indeed be viewed as bribes and far worse, which will only make the national reckoning Coates seeks that much harder to achieve. In fact, his argument reminds me of that old quip: When someone says that something’s not about the money, you can be sure it really is about the money. Nothing shuts down a dialogue more than a fight about who gets their share of a large stack of other people’s cash.
Coates is wrong for another big reason, too. Reparations are not supposed to be about redemption, reckonings or reconciliation. We can try those things – and address glaring problems, such as inequities in our nation’s criminal-justice system – without running up another year’s worth of public debt. The only possible rationale for paying reparations is to help African-Americans close the financial gap they have with other Americans. Yet the idea fails on those terms, as well.
Advocates for this proposal are far less persuasive at explaining how reparations would permanently level the playing field than they are at detailing some of the ugliest parts of our nation’s history. These folks rarely even tout a specific policy (What type of payment? Who is eligible? How much?). For instance, the New York Times’ conservative-leaning columnist David Brooks this month announced that he now embraces Coates’ position. Brooks’ column is eloquent, but his arguments are ephemeral.
“We’re a nation coming apart at the seams,” Brooks wrote. “The African-American experience is somehow at the core of this fragmentation – the original sin that hardens the heart, separates Americans from one another and serves as model and fuel for other injustices.” He agrees that “reparations are a drastic policy and hard to execute” but argues that “the very act of talking about and designing them heals a wound and opens a new story.”
That’s as close as Brooks gets to substance. Even his premise – that talking about payouts will help heal this long-festering wound – is way off base. How often do drastic public policies lead to amelioration rather than another round of vicious cultural battles? How naïve can a columnist be to champion such a controversial idea without exploring how it might play out?
Most reparations proposals range from creating new social programs to giving out bonds to newborn African-Americans to providing direct cash handouts to each adult African-American. It’s not hard to predict the political battles and ugly social-media flurry that would follow. The first idea would not satisfy those who demand redress – and the other two ideas will tear the nation asunder.
Officials will engage in bean-counting to determine who is eligible for payments. How many drops of blood prove a person’s compensable lineage? Suddenly, everyone will unearth some African heritage. Do recent immigrants from Africa qualify? Imagine the lawsuits over DNA, the bitter feelings, the anger that racists will exploit. How likely will this solve anything rather than become a starting point for escalating demands? We know how things work in America.
Other hyphenated Americans will lobby for their share of public money, too, given the demonstrable discrimination against members of their group. White Americans whose families arrived after the segregation era will wonder why they must pay for the sins of other people’s ancestors. Instead of solving problems, everyone will fight over money. It will end up only being about the money. This is not how to help a nation reckon with its past.
As National Review’s Kevin Williamson noted, reparations are embraced by Democratic presidential campaigns, which means it will instantly become a partisan issue. Forbes columnist Kyle Smith adds that people who receive windfalls (e.g., winning the lottery) have no better long-term financial prospects than those who never hit the jackpot. If the goal is to close a financial gap, then this won’t do it.
Sure, let’s have a debate, a reckoning or whatever that sparks change in some public policies. But it’s hard to believe that smart people such as Coates and Brooks don’t understand the tinderbox that their idea would ignite.
Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. He was a Register editorial writer from 1998-2009. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5UC workers to strike April 10 over alleged ‘intimidation tactics’
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An estimated 25,000 University of California workers plan to stage a one-day strike April 10, accusing the school system of using intimidation tactics to prevent them from protesting the outsourcing of jobs.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3299, which represents the service and patient care workers, announced the strike Friday, March 29. The union claims the university is interfering with their rights and creating a climate of fear as the two sides grapple with stalled labor negotiations.
“We will not allow UC to silence the voices of its most vulnerable workers — who’re overwhelmingly people of color– and we will take all necessary actions to hold UC accountable for any illegal behavior,” union President Kathryn Lybarger said in a statement.
Unfair labor practice charge
The employees filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board earlier this week. The allegations include workplace retaliation and threats of police citations for speaking out against the university’s practice of outsourcing jobs to contract workers.
Incidents cited in the unfair labor practice charge include an October 2018 encounter in which a UC Davis manager allegedly assaulted striking workers and allied students.
UC’s response
UC didn’t address the claims of intimidation or violence Friday, but it responded to the planned strike:
“This will be the fourth system-wide strike in less than a year — it’s abundantly clear union leaders have little regard for the negative impact on the patients, students and communities that U.C. serves,” UC spokeswoman Claire Doan said via email.
Doan said the workers want raises that are “nearly twice or triple that of other UC employees.” She is encouraging them to engage in good-faith bargaining.
The 15,000 patient care workers — including nursing aides, respiratory therapists, radiology technologists and patient transporters — held a three-day strike in October. A similar protest was held earlier last year with 10,000 service workers, which includes custodians, groundskeepers, security guards and truck drivers.
The service workers’ contract expired in July 2017, followed by the patient care contract five months later.
Last offer largely unchanged
UC presented an offer to AFSCME last August that has remained largely unchanged, according to union spokesman John de los Angeles.
It includes 3% across-the-board wage increases in each of the next four years, health benefits at the same rates as other UC employees with similar salaries, and no change in pension benefits. But it doesn’t address job outsourcing.
Fear of job security
Rosalyn Williams, an MRI technologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, expressed her fears about job security in September. She’s a single parent with a mortgage who wants to help her 20-year-old daughter pay for college.
“We are asking for a raise, but if they give that to us how do we know they won’t outsource our jobs next year?” the Pasadena resident said. “Our objective is to keep our jobs. I have two people who work in MRI who were brought in as contract workers. We trained these people … but they are waiting for us to go on strike so they can take our jobs.”
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Judge blocks Trump’s small-business health insurance plan
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By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
WASHINGTON — A federal judge has struck down a small-business health insurance plan widely touted by President Donald Trump, the second setback in a week for the administration’s health care initiatives.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates wrote in his opinion late Thursday that so-called “association health plans” were “clearly an end-run” around consumer protections required by the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.
On Wednesday, another federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s Medicaid work requirements for low-income people. The legal setbacks came as Trump unexpectedly pivoted back to health care this week, promising a new plan to replace the ACA, commonly called “Obamacare.” But many congressional Republicans don’t want to have that fight again. Democrats are gleeful, seeing a chance to shift the national conversation to one of their top issues.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said in a statement Friday the Trump administration disagrees with the judge’s ruling on association health plans and is “considering all available options,” including an appeal.
The plans at issue in Bates’ ruling Thursday allow groups of small businesses and sole proprietors to band together to offer lower-cost coverage that doesn’t have to include all the benefits required by “Obamacare.” The plans also can be offered across state lines, an attempt to deliver on a major Trump campaign promise.
But Bates wrote that key parts of the Trump administration’s policy are “unlawful and must be set aside” because they go against established definitions of what constitutes an employer under a decades-old federal law that governs workplace health and pension benefits.
In particular, a decision by the administration that sole proprietors can be counted both as employers and employees “stretches the statute too far,” Bates wrote.
Trump has eagerly talked up the plans , claiming they’re doing record business and promising small business owners “you’re going to save massive amounts of money and have much better health care.” But the plans don’t seem to have had a major impact. The Labor Department regulation authorizing them only took effect last summer.
“There’s been a few of these that have been announced,” said Gary Claxton, an expert on employer health insurance with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “It hasn’t been in effect all that long.”
Claxton estimated that only a few thousand people may be covered by association plans at the moment. Initial estimates said 3 million to 4 million people eventually would enroll, compared with more than 160 million Americans covered by current employer plans.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who joined other Democratic state officials in suing the Trump administration, said the judge “saw past the Trump administration’s transparent effort to sabotage our health care system and gut these critical consumer protections in the service of its own partisan agenda.”
Many state officials see federal insurance regulation of small-business plans as infringing on their own traditional authority.
The Trump administration, unable to repeal “Obamacare” in Congress, has tried to use its rule-making powers to open up a pathway for alternatives. In the case of plans for small businesses and sole proprietors, the administration’s regulation granted them similar flexibility as enjoyed by big companies. Most large employer plans are not subject to state regulations, and the Obama health law did not make major changes to them either.
But Bates wrote that treating sole proprietors similar to major employers “creates absurd results.” For example, said the judge, consider a hypothetical association of 51 sole business owners with no employees. Under the administration’s rule, they would in effect be counted as having 51 employees. Not only that, each of the 51 working owners would also be counted as an “employer” although they have “zero” people working for them, the judge wrote. And the association also would count as an employer, for a total of 52 employers.
Bates was nominated to the federal bench by then-President George W. Bush, a Republican. His ruling could signal limits to how far the Trump administration can advance with its strategy of relying on regulations to transform health care.
Trump is undeterred. The president jumped back into the health care debate this week, with the administration joining the side of Texas and other GOP-led states seeking to completely overturn “Obamacare” as unconstitutional. He’s also promising a new health care plan that would be much better than “Obamacare,” tweeting that Republicans will become “the Party of Great HealthCare!”
But there’s no indication that the White House, executive branch agencies like Health and Human Services or Republicans in Congress are working on a comprehensive plan. Many congressional Republicans see the Texas lawsuit as a political land mine. If “Obamacare” is overturned Republicans would be on the hook in the 2020 election year to come up with an alternative.
The GOP turmoil over health care has come as a boon to Democrats, who are looking to change the subject from special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russian government to sway the 2016 election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week joined in unveiling legislation that would shore up and expand “Obamacare,” allowing many more middle-class households to qualify for assistance paying their premiums.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Lyft jumps in IPO debut as ride-hailing giant raises $2.34 billion
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Lyft, the No. 2 U.S. ride-hailing giant, soared in its debut after raising $2.34 billion in an initial public offering that priced at the top of an elevated range, sending an encouraging signal to the stampede of Silicon Valley companies lining up to go public this year.
Shares opened at $87.24 — 21 percent above the IPO price of $72 — and were trading up 12 percent to $80.73 at 2:05 p.m. in New York. That gives the company a market value of about $23 billion.
After Lyft’s co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer rang the Nasdaq opening bell from a driver center in Los Angeles, shares took more than two hours to start trading. Zimmer said they decided to forgo the traditional opening ceremony on the floor of the exchange to be with the company’s drivers.
“We want to make a point that you can both invest in communities and invest in great business,” Zimmer said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Its fun to ring the bell with several members of our driver community.”
Green and Zimmer will maintain near-majority control of the company through Class B shares that carry the voting rights of 20 ordinary shares.
After a chilly start to 2019 for U.S. IPOs as the federal government shutdown stymied activity, Lyft’s success could light a fire under a market that’s likely to welcome Uber Technologies Inc., Pinterest Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc. — to name a few — before the end of the year.
San Francisco-based Lyft sold 32.5 million shares after initially marketing 30.8 million shares at $62 to $68 each. It increased the range to $70 to $72 the day before the IPO was set to price. Shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker LYFT.
“What happened today was good. This IPO is clearly a giant success,” said Barrett Daniels, a Deloitte partner who specializes in IPOs. “It’s been masterful.”
Daniels cautioned that it’s still early in the day and anything could change. “We don’t know how the stock will perform in the long term, but this morning feels like the first step in a potentially historic year for IPOs.”
All eyes were on Lyft Friday morning as investors rushed to get a piece of the first big U.S. technology listing of the year. The stock’s early performance served as a litmus test for public market investors and their appetite for money-losing tech companies.
$911 Million Loss
This month, Lyft disclosed in its IPO filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it lost $911 million on revenue of $2.2 billion in 2018. That compared with a loss of $688 million on revenue of $1.1 billion the previous year.
Investors didn’t seem to mind that the company was losing money. Last week, after just two days of marketing to investors, Lyft’s listing was oversubscribed. By Friday, Lyft ended up selling more shares than planned at the top of an already elevated price range.
The lead bankers for the offering — JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. — presented over nine days to more than 600 investors, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the meetings were private.
In all, more than two dozen banks were listed in the company’s filing as participating in the offering. JPMorgan is serving as the stabilizing agent, giving it a chance to earn additional fees by ensuring the first day of trading goes smoothly with limited stock price fluctuations.
Of the 22 tech and internet companies that have raised $1 billion or more in U.S. IPOs, Lyft ranks seventh at $2.34 billion. That was just behind last year’s $2.42 billion listing by the Chinese video service iQIYI Inc. and ahead of Twitter Inc.’s $2.09 billion offering in 2013.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. tops the list at $25 billion in 2014 — the largest ever U.S. IPO — followed by Facebook’s $16 billion listing in 2012
21 Percent Pop
Lyft investors got a 21 percent pop when trading opened over the offer price of $72. That ranks Lyft as the sixth best of that group at the opening price, which generally paralleled the closing price the companies after the first day of trading.
Attention grabbing tech listings often soar on their first day of trading. Snap Inc. closed its first day of trading up 44 percent in 2017, while Alibaba finished its debut up 38 percent. Snap now trades at less than two-thirds of its listing price while Alibaba has almost tripled its market value.
Lyft’s offering fulfilled a key strategic goal for the company: beating larger rival Uber to the market. Uber is expected to publicly file for its offering in April, kicking off a listing that could make the company worth as much as $120 billion, people familiar with the matter have said.
The company’s appeal to investors hinged on the potential for ride-hailing to replace car ownership. Zimmer likened the displacement of car ownership to cable television cord cutters.
“This massive market shift — just like entertainment has gone streaming is happening with car ownership,” he said. “We’re going after a trillion-dollar market opportunity.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Olivia Zaleski in San Francisco at ozaleski@bloomberg.net;Eric Newcomer in San Francisco at enewcomer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, ;Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5After disappointing state Senator turnout, question endures: Is California running out of ways to lead voters to the polls?
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By Ben Christopher, CALmatters
This Tuesday, voters in Long Beach turned out to elect a new state senator. Odds are that’s news to you—even if you happen to live in Long Beach. A preliminary tally indicates that less than a measly 7 percent of the district’s registered voters cast a ballot.
Even by the subdued standards of an off-year state Senate special election, single-digit turnout marks a historic low.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, some Democratic legislators in California—a state that already makes it easier to vote than almost any other—are trying to make it even easier. Assemblyman Evan Low, a Silicon Valley Democrat, is the latest to take up that cause.
Low’s bill would make election day a state holiday, giving the day off to state employees and closing schools and college campuses. Supporters say the holiday would allow more schools to serve as polling stations and let college students volunteer as poll workers.
“Other states are looking at increasing barriers to entry,” said Low, noting the recent proliferation of state voter ID laws. “We do the opposite in California. We believe that we are a stronger democracy by having more people participate in the process.”
Low has also proposed changing the state constitution to allow 17-year-olds to vote. If it passes the Legislature by a two-thirds margin, it would require voter approval—assuming it survives any legal challenges.
Such proposals have become an increasingly easy political sell here. With President Donald Trump and other Republicans using unsupported claims of widespread voter fraud to call for new restrictions on the franchise, voting rights have become a rallying cry for California Democrats. Whatever they can do to amplify turnout among “low propensity” voters—statistically those who are young, low-income and Latino—generally happens to work to the Democrats’ electoral advantage too.
But the evidence is still out as to whether these measures have a significant effect on voter behavior one way or the other. And given the political and legal challenges facing this year’s latest round of proposals, state lawmakers may have run out of obstacles to knock down between the California voter and the ballot box.
One study that took into account registration restrictions, the presence of voter ID laws and automatic voter registration programs anointed California the third easiest state for voting. Only Oregon and Colorado make it easier—and the researchers did not even account for some of California’s most recent reforms.
California allows would-be voters to register on election day, to vote well before an election and to so by mail, and to pre-register as long as they will turn 18 by election day. More than 200,000 teenagers pre-registered in the lead up to last year’s election, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The state also pays the postage on mail-in ballots and automatically registers eligible voters when they visit the DMV (in theory, anyway).
Of the various policy levers that lawmakers can pull to make it easier to vote, Kati Phillips, spokesperson for the voter-rights advocacy group Common Cause California, identified the most effective: automatic voter registration, early voting and wide-scale vote-by-mail programs.
She described Low’s proposal as “a cherry on top,” though maybe “not dinner.”
Benjamin Highton, a political scientist at UC Davis, is a little more skeptical. He says that the time, hassle and other “costs” of voting are “contributing factors” to turnout—but they’re relatively small ones. Same-day registration might boost turnout by “five percentage points or less typically,” he said.
Additional changes to election law are likely to produce diminishing election returns, he said.
“When costs are small,” he added, “you can’t reduce them that much more and the explanation for lack of higher participation is more on the benefit side.”
In other words, it’s possible that most non-voters in California eschew voting not because the process is difficult, but because they don’t see the value in doing so.
“That’s a much tougher problem for policymakers to solve,” said Highton.
There is some evidence to back up Highton’s claim. In the Cooperative Congressional Election Study surveyconducted after the 2018 midterm elections, just over 1 in 10 nonvoting Californians said they stayed away from the polls because they were either “too busy” or faced overly long lines at polling places—time constraints that might be solved with a holiday.
California law also guarantees employees two-hours paid time off to go the polls and gives voters the ability to register to vote my mail online.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of non-voters said they either didn’t know enough, didn’t like their choices, had no interest, simply forgot or were not registered to vote.
Another possible reason for lower turnout, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, is voter fatigue.
Whereas voters in parliamentary democracies might only vote for one party over another a few times every decade, Californians are invited to vote in primaries, special elections and general elections, and are expected to puzzle over byzantine initiative language and determine who might make the best city auditor.
As Kousser put it: “There’s almost no profession you can have that would fully qualify you to vote down a California ballot.”
Both Kousser and Highton are part of a group of University of California researchers studying the effects of California’s recently implemented automatic voter registration program. They say it’s still too early to draw any conclusions.
California aside, Kousser noted that the United States is still a relatively tough place to vote compared to most economically developed democracies.
Australians and Belgians, for example, can be fined if they don’t show up to the polls.
“We’re so far behind the starting line of other modern democracies that elected officials in states like California…are always looking for ways to motivate people,” he said.
But in Sacramento, the effort to ensure that voting is easy enough may have already peaked. Bills to establish an election day holiday have been introduced three times in the Legislature—twice by Low. Both of Low’s past efforts have been left to die in the Assembly appropriations committee, reflecting the fact that even his Democratic colleagues worry it might not be worth the cost and disruption.
Shirley Weber, a Democratic Assemblywoman from San Diego, expressed those concerns during the bill’s first committee hearing earlier this month.
Given the various ways in which California law already makes it convenient to vote, she wondered “whether it’s necessary at this point.” She nevertheless voted for the proposal, as did the other Democrats on the committee.
But according to Low, a holiday is not simply about removing yet another impediment to voting.
Setting aside a day to “to stop and pause” would provide “an opportunity to focus everyone’s attention on civic engagement and reinforce the importance of voting,” he said. “There’s nothing more American.”
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