Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Southern California among nation’s 5 least affordable rental markets
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A surge of new renters and steadily rising rents have made Southern California one of the least affordable regions in the nation for tenants, a new USC study found.
San Diego ranked as the second most unaffordable area for renters among the 50 largest metro areas in the country, just behind Washington, D.C., according to the report, released Tuesday, April 30.
The fourth and fifth most unaffordable regions
The Los Angeles-Orange County metro area ranked fourth most unaffordable, and the Inland Empire ranked fifth.
USC researchers developed a new methodology for determining rent affordability — comparing changes in incomes and rent from 2000 to 2016 for the top and bottom 25% of all renters.
“Incomes have not kept pace (with rent) at all,” said Dowell Myers, a professor of policy planning and demography at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. “Demand way outran the supply of rentals, so the prices were bid up, even for the (lowest cost) units.”
Among the findings:
- Fifty-four percent of all L.A.-Orange County renters are now paying rents in what had been the top bracket in 2000, an inflation-adjusted comparison shows. That occurred even though the number earning incomes in the top bracket increased to 29% of renters, up from 25% in 2000.
- The number of tenants paying rent in the bottom-priced bracket fell from 25% of renters to 11% in 2016.
In other words, rents at what had been the cheapest one-fourth of the housing market rose faster than inflation, resulting in way fewer apartments affordable to the area’s poorest households, which remained virtually unchanged over the 16-year period.
“Over half the renters are forced to pay top rents,” Myers said. “It’s a national trend, but you see how L.A. (and Orange County) shoot way beyond the national average.”
Although rents and housing costs are much lower in the Inland Empire, rents there also have outpaced income growth, the report found.
For example, the number paying top-tier rents doubled to 55% of all renters in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, while half as many tenants – 12% — are paying the cheapest rents.
Myers called the Inland Empire result “a little surprising.”
“We’re all one big market, and you can’t escape high costs anywhere in the region,” he said.
Why has the number of affordable apartments decreased so much?
Demographics, Myers said. The renter population has surged, but apartment construction has failed to keep up.
As millennials aged, more moved out of their parents’ homes and began renting. Homeownership rates also plunged during the housing crash of 2008 as more “frustrated homeowners” lost their homes and became renters again.
“It’s not from immigration,” Myers said. “It’s just more people growing up.”
Meanwhile, construction has been stymied because of a lack of financing and a labor shortage, meaning developers “don’t have the capacity to build as fast as they could.” Even if they had that capacity, developers still face local opposition by existing residents, making it difficult to get cities to approve new projects.
“It’s a pressure cooker,” Myers said. “Ever since the 1990s recession, we have been under-building.”
That pressure has been behind state legislation like Senate Bill 50, which seeks to force cities to approve more homebuilding near jobs and transit lines.
An annual UCLA quality-of-life survey of 1,406 residents released last week also found rising housing costs to be the single biggest factor undermining satisfaction with life in Los Angeles County.
The USC report, which was published in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s research journal, “Cityscape,” found rents shifting upward nationwide this century.
Thirty-nine percent of U.S. renters were paying rents in 2016 that formerly were in the top 25% bracket, while the share paying rent in the bottom bracket declined to 17% from 25% in 2000.
“On the income side, very little change has occurred,” the report said.
Other metro areas with the least affordable rents include Virginia Beach, New Orleans, Miami, Denver, Houston and Sacramento.
Myers said the change in Sacramento “has been shocking” to local residents. Rentals at the bottom of the market “evaporated,” he said.
The nation’s most affordable cities include Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Phoenix, the study found.
The results for Washington, D.C., also were significant because people hadn’t recognized before that rent affordability is a problem there, Myers said.
“Amazon went there (to build its second headquarters) thinking it’s cheaper than Seattle, and that doesn’t appear to be the case,” he said. “And they’re driving up demand even more.”
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Inside the Dodgers: Justin Turner’s homerless season is starting to get weird
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Editor’s note: The story below is the Monday, April 30 edition of the Inside the Dodgers newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
It’s hard to find a story about the state of baseball in 2019 that doesn’t mention the record home run rate. Homers have reached uncharted territory, eclipsing even the peak of the steroid era. Players are doing this despite omnipresent drug-testers in the clubhouse, with physiques that aren’t ripped from the pages of bodybuilding calendars. Tommy La Stella, a slight-framed middle infielder with 10 career home runs prior to this year, recently overtook Mike Trout for the Angels’ team lead in home runs. Tommy La Stella.
This newsletter isn’t concerned with answering what’s going on, but rather what’s going on with Justin Turner?
Turner hasn’t hit a home run in 2019. He slugged .530 in 2017, his last full healthy season. He slugged .619 in the second half of last season, around the time he was fully recovered from a fractured wrist in spring training. His slugging percentage through Monday was .300, easily his lowest this decade. No player has batted as many times this season without a home run as Turner, and the players closest to him on that list aren’t exactly sluggers: Rafael Devers, Jeimer Candelario, Brandon Crawford, Jackie Bradley Jr. Turner is two years removed from a 27-homer season.
It isn’t just his home runs that have disappeared, either.
Turner has exactly three extra-base hits, all doubles, along with 24 singles. That’s the kind of profile you might expect from a dead-ball era hitter – until you take a closer look. Because he’s still drawing walks to go along with his singles, Turner has a stout .370 on-base percentage. To find the last man to qualify for a batting title with at least a .370 on-base percentage and at most a .300 slugging percentage, you need to go back to Ron Hunt, a journeyman second baseman (and briefly a Dodger in 1967) who was good at avoiding strikeouts, drawing walks, getting hit by pitches and … not much else. The Cleveland Indians employed a catcher named Steve O’Neill who did this twice in the 1920’s. They’re the only two men to accomplish the feat in the 20th century. What Turner is doing was hard to do in the dead-ball era, and he’s doing it in the liveliest-ball era since, well, maybe ever. For a very different reason, that makes Turner’s start to the season about as impressive as Cody Bellinger’s, which I wrote about in detail yesterday.
So, what is going on with Justin Turner?
From an outcome standpoint, it’s pretty simple: he’s hitting the ball on the ground again. Turner’s average launch angle, which had risen every year in the Statcast era, has plummeted from 18.3 degrees to 12.8. His ground-ball rate is on pace to be higher than any year since 2014, Turner’s first season in Los Angeles. The grounders are resulting from a variety of pitches, and most are in the strike zone. There’s a more sophisticated analysis to be done there, but the bottom line is the same. We’re seeing a troubling trend for Turner. His profile has basically reverted to its pre-Doug Latta days.
To be clear, Turner is far from useless. A .370 OBP is well above average. Unfortunately it’s about the only thing Turner is doing well at the plate right now. His strikeout rate is up. His ballooning ground-ball rate has led to six double plays – four shy of his total from all of 2018. And his slugging percentage has gone the way of Ron Hunt, apparently without any kind of injury. That might be the least-expected development by any Dodger player in 2019.
-J.P.
Thanks for reading the April 30 edition of the Inside the Dodgers newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Video: Fryer and Khamis preview the CIF-SS baseball playoffs
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Steve Fryer and Jonathan Khamis get you ready for the start of the CIF-SS baseball playoffs. They discuss the contenders in Division 1 and Division 2, and the postseason chances for Orange Lutheran, Beckman, Cypress, Capistrano Valley, JSerra, Villa Park and more. Video by Jonathan Khamis, for the O.C. Register.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5FBI affidavit: Online posts reveal growing rage of man accused in Long Beach terror plot
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When Mark Steven Domingo introduced himself to what he thought was a like-minded, online community of radical Muslims, he did so in a video declaring his newfound faith in Islam.
Just a day later, Domingo, a 26-year-old former U.S. Army infantryman from Reseda, allegedly began calling for violent warfare against innocent people.
“America needs another vegas event (to be honest),” Domingo wrote in a message to the group, referencing the 2017 shooting at a Las Vegas concert that killed 58 people.
As he published these messages, Domingo took no steps to hide his identity, displaying his face and using his full name, according to an FBI affidavit filed as part of a criminal complaint against him on Monday.
According to a confidential informant for the FBI who met with the man over the course of a month, the posts were just the first indications of Domingo’s growing aggression, as he moved from online threats to allegedly plotting a bomb attack on a rally at a Long Beach park on Sunday.
FBI agents arrested Domingo on Friday after he allegedly supplied an undercover officer with nails to be placed inside the bomb — a fake device that contained no explosives — and scouted Bluff Park with the officer and the informant.
In just two months, the informant observed Domingo evolve from scattershot rage at a variety of targets to resolve to kill random people.
In person throughout March and April, he raged over attacks on Muslims worldwide at dinner table conversations, while decrying a perceived lack of commitment from other members of a local mosque.
At a meeting on April 19, to the informant’s surprise, Domingo brought an AK-47 with him in a backpack, then indicated they could start their killing spree by shooting homeless people outside, according to Tasha Coolidge, the FBI agent who compiled the affidavit.
At the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, Nicola Hanna, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, described Domingo “as a man who was consumed by hate and bent on mass murder.“
Hanna called him a “recent convert to Islam” with a “stated belief in violent jihad.”
But to members of the local Muslim community, it’s not clear how much Domingo knew about the religion he professed to follow.
“This individual has zero to very little knowledge of Islam from the way he talks,” said Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“Anyone with knowledge of Islam would know that harming innocent people is one of the most great sins a person can commit in Islam. Hating or harming people, in itself, is a sin, let alone causing harm to people.”
Ayloush said the FBI affidavit showed him that Domingo was a man who was “angry, confused and easily manipulated.”
At times, according to court documents, the informant tried to calm Domingo down from states of intense rage.
He feuded with others around him who had no apparent political affiliation. In one exchange, Domingo called the informant to tell him about his desire to kill his neighbor.
Domingo said the neighbor was an enemy of Muslims, and that spilling his blood would be a lawful act under Islam, both times using Arabic words. But he also told the informant this dispute began when the neighbor complained of trash on Domingo’s front lawn.
In private messages, Domingo told the informant he slept with the AK-47 near his bed following the deadly attacks on Muslims in New Zealand last month. He told the informant he was jealous of another member of the online group who appeared to have more weapons than he did.
As their plot progressed, Domingo challenged the informant to show his dedication to Islam after the informant pointed out the weakness of Domingo’s plans, saying they both might be caught.
“At some point they’re gonna know, and you gotta be a man and stand your ground,” Domingo said. “Then we’re gonna die, shahid.”
About a week before his arrest, Domingo met again with the informant wearing camouflage pants. He was also wearing the backpack containing his AK-47 rifle. The weapon was partially covered by a shirt, according to the affidavit.
The informant expressed surprise that Domingo brought the rifle, later telling him that he thought he was crazy.
“I just want to show you that I’m serious,” Domingo said.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Fryer on baseball: A division-by-division look at the CIF-SS playoffs
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A division-by-division look at the CIF-Southern Section baseball playoffs:
DIVISION 1
Top-seeded teams: 1. Orange Lutheran (25-4); 2. Cypress (26-3); 3. La Mirada (23-6); 4. Huntington Beach (22-6).
Orange County teams: Aliso Niguel (26-4); Beckman (22-4); Cypress; Dana Hills (16-13); Edison (16-13); El Dorado (14-13); El Toro (12-11-4); Foothill (19-11); Huntington Beach; JSerra (19-11); San Clemente (14-13-2); Servite (19-12).
Analysis: This is the most challenging divisional team championship to win in the CIF-Southern Section. Orange Lutheran has the pitching depth needed to advance far in this loaded division, having allowed only 41 runs in 29 games against top-shelf competition like they faced in the Boras Classic, the National High School Invitational and the Trinity League. Cypress has won 11 in a row going into the playoffs, including a 10-0 run in the Empire League. The Centurions can score runs and if their pitching is equally good they will be tough to beat. Aliso Niguel is an outstanding team but might not have been tested by the level of competition as often as the other Division 1 contenders. JSerra is a hot team, having won the Boras Classic championship and sweeping Santa Margarita in three games in the final week of the regular season. Some O.C. coaches grumble that Beckman does not play as challenging of a schedule as the Patriots could. That “nobody believes in us” mentality often is very helpful motivation for a high school team.
Final four: Orange Lutheran, Huntington Beach, La Mirada, Cypress.
Champion: Orange Lutheran
DIVISION 2
Top-seeded teams: 1. Arcadia (23-1); 2. San Dimas (23-4); 3. Thousand Oaks (23-5); 4. Bonita of La Verne (22-6).
Orange County teams: Corona del Mar (18-8-1); Pacifica (14-14); Santa Margarita (20-11); Trabuco Hills (19-11); Villa Park (14-14).
Analysis: Santa Margarita was among the hotter teams in Orange County baseball until the final week of the regular season when the Eagles got swept in three games by JSerra. If they can recapture that momentum they could go far in this bracket. Villa Park is one of the more interesting stories in county baseball, with first-year coach Burt Call, who had been at Mater Dei for many years, leading the team to the North Hills League championship after a last-place finish last season. The Spartans will have their hands full in the first round against a solid Corona del Mar team. It looks, though, like the cream of the division is outside of Orange County.
Final four: Arcadia, Agoura, Thousand Oaks, San Dimas.
Champion: San Dimas
DIVISION 3
Top-seeded teams: 1. Paraclete of Lancaster (20-6); 2. Marina (19-10); 3. Jurupa Hills (24-2); 4. Great Oak of Temecula (18-9-1).
Orange County teams: Capistrano Valley Christian (14-14); Fullerton (16-11); Katella (17-9-1); Ocean View (21-10); Marina (19-10); Northwood (10-12-1); San Juan Hills (15-15); Segerstrom (18-9); Yorba Linda (17-9).
Analysis: Marina won the championship of the Wave League. While that is the lesser of the two four-team leagues within the Sunset Conference, that was still a fine league with Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor in it. Capistrano Valley Christian season after season is among the better small-school teams in Southern California, but the Eagles have a tough first-round challenge in Yorba Linda. Yorba Linda this season defeated Division 1 playoffs teams El Dorado and Foothill. If you’re looking for two O.C. underdogs to follow in these playoffs, Yorba Linda is one team and Katella is the other. Katella has the pitching and defense required to thrive in playoff baseball. Ocean View prepared for the playoffs with two one-run wins over Segerstrom in the final week of the regular season. That’s a good pre-playoffs omen, tight wins against a good team.
Final four: Yorba Linda, Great Oak, Ocean View, Marina.
Champion: Marina
DIVISION 4
Top-seeded teams: 1. Sonora (20-8); 2. Summit of Fontana (18-6); 3. St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs (18-9-1); 4. Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley (18-7).
Orange County teams: Irvine (17-8); Kennnedy (21-9); Loara (16-8); Rancho Alamitos (15-8); Sonora; Sunny Hills (19-11).
Analysis: Sonora went 13-2 in the Freeway League, which is a good baseball league. The Raiders beat O.C. top 25 teams Villa Park and Newport Harbor during the regular season. Loara, champion of the Garden Grove League, sometimes struggles against good pitching. Watch out for Kennedy, the second-place team in the Empire League. The Fighting Irish beat Tesoro and held their own against Cypress in two league losses to the county’s No. 2 team.
Final four: Sonora, Alhambra, St. Paul, Culver City.
Champion: St. Paul
DIVISION 5
Top-seeded teams: 1. Pasadena Poly (15-2); 2. Dunn of Los Olivos (18-3); 3. Indio (20-4); Buckley of Sherman Oaks (17-4).
Orange County teams: Estancia (16-10); Garden Grove (12-14); La Quinta (15-8); Oxford Academy (19-10); Saddleback Valley Christian (10-9); Savanna (19-7); St. Margaret’s (13-5); Whittier Christian (10-17).
Analysis: The top Orange County contenders here are Estancia and Savanna … and they play each other in the first round. Estancia finished first in the crazy Orange Coast League, a league in which the standings were tight as was the competition. The Eagles know how to win a pressure-packed game. Savanna finished third in the Orange League, which was a fairly good league this year. The Rebels have league wins over Katella and second-place Century. The Savanna-Estancia winner could reach the quarterfinals. Century beat Katella, too, early this season and goes into the playoffs with back-to-back shutout wins over Magnolia. If Century’s pitching continues to hold up, the Centurions could be a surprise team.
Final four: Pasadena Poly, Rancho Verde of Moreno Valley, Century, Dunn.
Champion: Dunn.
DIVISION 6
Top-seeded teams: 1. Webb of Claremont (15-4); 2. Sultana of Hesperia (22-3); 3. Faith Baptist of Canoga Park (17-1); 4. Gladstone of Covina (15-6).
Orange County teams: Costa Mesa (12-11); Orange (13-14).
Analysis: Teams that get to the playoffs after surviving a hectic scramble in the final weeks of league play are playoff-ready teams. Orange and Costa Mesa finished second and third, respectively, in Orange County’s most dramatic league, the Orange Coast League. Both, however, are placed in tough parts of the bracket. If Costa Mesa gets to the second round the Mustangs play at top-seeded Webb, which has a first-round bye. If Orange gets to the second round the Panthers play at third-seeded Faith Baptist, which also has a first-round bye. That’s a tough setup for Costa Mesa and Orange.
Final four: Webb, Adelanto, Faith Baptist, Santa Clara.
Champion: Santa Clara.
DIVISION 7
Top-seeded teams: 1. United Christian Academy of Rancho Cucamonga (13-3); 2. University Prep of Victorville (13-6); 3. Bloomington Christian of Rialto (13-4); 4. Arroyo of El Monte (10-8-1).
Orange County teams: Tarbut V’Torah (12-5).
Analysis: Division 7 again has a bunch of teams that did not play a lot of games. That means either teams are well-rested or not as sharp as the intricate game of baseball requires for success. Express League champion Tarbut V’Torah, the only O.C. team in this bracket, has a strong baseball tradition. With a division as wide open as this one seems to be, the Lions could advance a couple of rounds. The one sure thing about this division: first-round scores will be wild. Ten of last year’s 16 Division 7 first-round games had the winning team score in double figures … including a 33-0 game.
Final four: United Christian, Arroyo, Bloomington Christian, Tarbut V’Torah.
Champion: Arroyo
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Radio: Beach Boys’ Mike Love will be honored by broadcasters, John Stamos
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The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters will be honoring Beach Boy Mike Love with its Art Gilmore Lifetime Achievement Award on May 17th at the AirTel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys.
Expected on the dais is John Stamos, who also toured with the Beach Boys over the years and Mark McGrath, lead singer of Sugar Ray and co-host of television’s celebrity news show, Extra.
This one is an interesting choice. To my knowledge, Love never did any regular radio or television gigs, though his music was played and performed on both. Still, it seems odd that an organization dedicated to those who helped shape radio and television — then and now — is giving a lifetime achievement award to someone who didn’t.
Speaking of the PPB, the group is looking for new members. If you or someone you know has at least 10 years of experience in the broadcasting industry (radio, television, or an allied field) — the years do not have to be consecutive — now is a good time to join. The group is offering a discounted membership rate through the end of May. Go to ppbwebsite.org for more information.
What’s the Hullabaloo?
Former (original) KRLA (now KRDC, 1110 AM) personality Dave “The Hullabalooer” Hull — one of the few thorns in the side of KHJ (930 AM) programmer Ron Jacobs due to his continued success at KRLA in the face of KHJ’s general dominance otherwise — is back on the air. Well, sort of.Hull has been tapped to do a talk show at CRN Digital Radio and can be heard Fridays at 4 p.m. (repeated at 7 and 8 p.m.) on “The Lounge PM” along with host Mike Horn at crntalk.com. It’s also available as a podcast available for download at any time. The show is also available to stations nationwide, though to my knowledge there are no local affiliates, so online is the best bet.
In addition to his work at KRLA, Hull worked at numerous other stations including KFI (640 AM), KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM), KHJ and others. But it was his time at KRLA for which he is most famous. And it is the primary background for most of the stories in his book, “Hullabaloo! The Life and (Mis)Adventures of L.A. Radio Legend Dave Hull.”
All Digital AM
Programming is the main reason AM listenership is at its lowest level since radios became widely available. But there is no denying that technical hurdles are a definite issue. The proliferation of computers, cable boxes, and even LED lights can cause huge problems for reception. AM — Amplitude Modulation — analog signals are easily picked up because of the simple way they are transmitted … but so are the causes of interference. Modern technology has put so much “noise” into the AM band that sometimes the signals are unlistenable.
But that’s analog. What about digital? Yes, indeed, AM signals can be digitized, and it is being done with some success using a hybrid version of HD Radio. The problem with the hybrid system is that the extra digital energy causes interference itself, and it tends to be less robust than the regular analog system.
There is, however, an all-digital version of HD Radio, and it could well be the savior of the band, at least from a technical standpoint. WWFD/Frederick, MD has been broadcasting an all-digital signal since last Summer with generally excellent results. The signal can be decoded by any HD radio tuner with an AM band, and tests have gone well. Unlike the hybrid system, the all-digital signal allows for better fidelity, greater range, far less interference because it takes less spectrum space, the ability to broadcast extra features such as album artwork, and perhaps the ability to receive at long distances at night … a strength (and problem) of AM itself.
While KKFD is broadcasting all-digital AM using special approval, some broadcasters are asking the FCC to allow any station to go all-digital whenever the owner wanted to do so. Yes, the station would lose the ability to be heard on millions of regular analog radios. But — and this is big — the number of HD radios has grown due to its availability in new cars. Some estimates claim 50 percent of new cars sold include the ability to receive HD signals.
That’s huge.
The FCC is asking for comments.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5OC Zoo plans Bear Awareness Day on May 4
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Lots of families will be heading out this summer on camping trips and the OC Zoo is planning its annual Bear Awareness Day to help get them thinking about how to set up a safe camp site.
Along with learning how to “bear proof” a camp site and what to do it you run into a bear, zoo visitors on May 4 can also enjoy bear-themed crafts and activities.
Headlining the event will be the zoo’s own residents Elinor and Yo-Yo, two female black bears found orphaned in the wild.
Zookeepers will also chat with zoo guests about the state’s bear residents.
***If you go
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 4
Where: OC Zoo located inside Irvine Park, 1 Irvine Park Road, Orange
Cost: Part of the $2 zoo admission
Information: ocparks.com/zoo/events
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Street clashes erupt as Venezuela’s Guaido urges uprising
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By SCOTT SMITH and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
CARACAS, Venezuela — Anti-government demonstrators clashed with troops loyal to Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro at an air base in the capital hours after opposition leader Juan Guaidó took to the streets in a bold and risky attempt to lead a military uprising against the embattled socialist.
The early-morning rebellion seems to have only limited military support.
But it was by far the most-serious challenge yet to Maduro’s rule since Guaidó, with the backing of the U.S. and dozens of other countries, declared himself the country’s interim president in January in rejection of a government he accused of stealing last year’s presidential election.
The dramatic events began early Tuesday when Guaidó, flanked by a few dozen national guardsmen and some armored crowd control vehicles, released a three-minute video filmed near a Caracas air base in which he called on civilians and others in the armed forces to join a final push to topple Maduro.
In a surprise, standing alongside him was Leopoldo Lopez, his political mentor and the nation’s most-prominent opposition activist, who has largely been silent and unseen since he was detained in 2014 for leading a previous round of anti-government unrest. Lopez said he had been released from house arrest by security forces adhering to an order from Guaidó.
“I want to tell the Venezuelan people: This is the moment to take to the streets and accompany these patriotic soldiers,” Lopez declared.
As the two opposition leaders coordinated actions from vehicles parked on a highway overpass, troops loyal to Maduro sporadically fired tear gas from inside the adjacent Carlota air base.
A crowd that quickly swelled to a few thousand scurried for cover, reassembling later with Guaidó to a nearby plaza.
A smaller group of masked youths stayed behind on the highway, firing rocks and Molotov cocktails in an attempt to storm the air base. Amid the mayhem, an armored utility vehicle drove at full speed into the crowd. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.
“It’s now or never,” said one of the young rebellious soldiers, his face covered in the blue bandanna worn by the few dozen soldiers joining the “Operation Freedom” insurrection.
Amid the confusion Maduro tried to project an image of strength, saying he had spoken to several regional military commanders who reaffirmed their loyalty to his socialist revolution.
“Nerves of steel!,” he said in a message posted on Twitter.
The events, playing out in the opposition’s stronghold in a wealthier neighborhood of eastern Caracas, appeared not to have triggered a broader military revolt.
Flanked by top military commanders, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López appeared on national television and condemned Guaido’s move as a “terrorist” act that was bound to fail.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the “right-wing extremists” would not succeed in fracturing the armed forces, which have largely stood with the socialist leader throughout the months of turmoil.
“Since 2002, we’ve seen the same pattern,” he told The Associated Press, adding that most of Caracas was calm. “They call for violence, a coup, and send people into the streets so that there are confrontations and deaths. And then from the blood they try to construct a narrative,”
Hundreds of government supporters, some of them brandishing firearms, gathered at the presidential palace, answering the call by socialist leaders to come to the embattled Maduro’s rescue.
“It’s time to defend the revolution with arms,” Valentin Santana, head of a militant group, said in a video posted on social media as he brandished an automatic rifle.
Guaidó said the troops who had taken to the streets were protecting Venezuela’s constitution and that in the coming hours he would release a list of top commanders supporting the uprising.
Anti-government demonstrators gathered in several other cities, although there were no reports that Guaidó’s supporters had taken control of any military installations.
“The armed forces have taken the right decision,” said Guaidó. “With the support of the Venezuelan people and the backing of our constitution they are on the right side of history.”
As events unfolded, governments from around the world expressed a mix of support for Guaidó while reiterating calls to avoid violent confrontation.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, in a Twitter post directed at defense minister Padrino, said the armed forces “must protect the Constitution and the Venezuelan people.”
Meanwhile, Spain’s caretaker government urged restraint, while the governments of Cuba and Bolivia reiterated their support for Maduro.
“We hope with all of our strength that there is no bloodshed. We support a peaceful democratic process in Venezuela. We support the immediate holding of an election for a new president,” Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celaá said.
Joshua Goodman in Cucuta, Colombia, contributed to this report.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Monday, April 29, 2019
Villa Park diver Andrew Harness captures CIF Division 2 championship
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Andrew Harness is finally a CIF-SS diving champion.
And so is Villa Park.
Three years after his promising freshman debut, the Texas-bound senior captured the CIF-SS Division 2 title Monday at Riverside City College to help kickoff championship week for swimming and diving.
Harness scored 610.35 points for his 11-dive list on springboard to outdistance freshman Nicholas Chaou of South Pasadena by just over 50 points.
As a freshman in 2016, Harness signaled his arrival with a runner-up finish in Division 1. The following spring, he was a narrow runner-up at the state championships to Jake Fielding of Maranatha.
Harness didn’t dive for Villa Park last season but has been a consistent winner this spring.
He is the first diver from Villa Park, a traditionally strong program in aquatics, to capture a section crown. The school has produced Olympic water polo players Josh Samuels, Gavin Arroyo, Doug Kimbell and Shea Buckner.
Harness is expected to dive Saturday in Riverside for a berth in the state championships in Fresno.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County softball RBI leaders: Final 2019 regular season
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The final Orange County softball RBI leaders for the 2019 regular season, through Sunday, April 28.
| NAME, SCHOOL | RBI | PA | GP |
| Makena Tomlinson, Corona del Mar | 35 | 92 | 26 |
| Samantha Villanueva, Godinez | 34 | 90 | 25 |
| Madison Simon, Beckman | 34 | 86 | 26 |
| Natalie Carlos, Godinez | 34 | 83 | 23 |
| Alexis Campos, Orangewood Academy | 34 | 63 | 16 |
| Emily Rush, Marina | 33 | 85 | 24 |
| Miranda Stoddard, Orange Lutheran | 32 | 90 | 26 |
| Tereise Tosi, Eastside Christian | 32 | 53 | 12 |
| Skylar Chavez, Villa Park | 32 | 26 | |
| Alison Steinker, JSerra | 30 | 84 | 24 |
| Keana Pola, Godinez | 29 | 83 | 23 |
| Katie Belmontes, Costa Mesa | 29 | 77 | 20 |
| Rebeca Cabezas, Segerstrom | 29 | 73 | 24 |
| Savannah Pola, Godinez | 28 | 99 | 25 |
| Nicole Stark, Brea Olinda | 28 | 74 | 22 |
| Piper Tago, Dana Hills | 27 | 73 | 21 |
| Kendall Kelly, Newport Harbor | 26 | 87 | 26 |
| Samara Ortega, Fountain Valley | 24 | 86 | 28 |
| Hailey Guillen, Segerstrom | 24 | 83 | 24 |
| Jaden Hernandez, Whittier Christian | 24 | 74 | 22 |
| Devynn Basulto, El Modena | 23 | 82 | 25 |
| Liliana Navarro, Segerstrom | 23 | 81 | 25 |
| Jasmine Vasquez, Westminster | 23 | 62 | 17 |
| Hailie Salyer, Costa Mesa | 22 | 78 | 21 |
| Eliana Gottlieb, Newport Harbor | 22 | 76 | 22 |
| Sarah Ruggles, Yorba Linda | 22 | 66 | 24 |
| Emma Estep, Aliso Niguel | 22 | 59 | 19 |
| Bryn Boznanski, Rosary | 22 | 74 | 27 |
| Mika Jones, Villa Park | 22 | 26 | |
| Airlin Ramirez, Godinez | 21 | 92 | 25 |
| Danielle Nii, El Modena | 21 | 85 | 25 |
| Iyari Ramirez, Godinez | 21 | 82 | 25 |
| Savannah Taylor, Calvary Chapel | 21 | 63 | 17 |
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County baseball RBI leaders: Final 2019 regular season
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The final Orange County baseball RBI leaders for the 2019 regular season, through Sunday, April 28.
| NAME, SCHOOL | RBI | PA | GP |
| Jonny Long, Orange | 47 | 97 | 28 |
| Evan Fitterer, Aliso Niguel | 30 | 107 | 30 |
| Robert Wood, Capistrano Valley Christian | 29 | 108 | 28 |
| Ketch Gannon, Foothill | 27 | 109 | 29 |
| Isaac Ramirez, Sonora | 26 | 107 | 27 |
| Wes Ruiz, Whittier Christian | 26 | 86 | 27 |
| Max Shuster, Tarbut V’Torah | 26 | 64 | 16 |
| Paul Skenes, El Toro | 25 | 117 | 29 |
| Quinn Mathews, Aliso Niguel | 25 | 109 | 30 |
| Michael Davinni, Aliso Niguel | 24 | 112 | 30 |
| Tyler Lay, La Quinta | 24 | 104 | 24 |
| Kyle Ashworth, Foothill | 23 | 118 | 29 |
| Louie Garza, Sunny Hills | 23 | 99 | 28 |
| Anthony Leanos, Rancho Alamitos | 23 | 84 | 23 |
| Donovan Castaneda, Katella | 22 | 88 | 25 |
| Dalton Sloniger, Valencia | 22 | 79 | 21 |
| Jared Maister, Tarbut V’Torah | 22 | 68 | 16 |
| Johnny Olmstead, Newport Harbor | 22 | 106 | 26 |
| Wyatt Johnson, Kennedy | 21 | 96 | 28 |
| Joseph Mena, Los Amigos | 21 | 77 | 22 |
| Cutter Clawson, Laguna Beach | 20 | 105 | 28 |
| Sebastian McSherry, Kennedy | 20 | 101 | 30 |
| Nick Dietsch, Mission Viejo | 20 | 93 | 26 |
| Nathan Chong, Fullerton | 20 | 92 | 26 |
| Andrew Herrera, Fullerton | 20 | 91 | 27 |
| Elias Delgadillo, Los Amigos | 20 | 90 | 23 |
| Clay Liolios, Newport Harbor | 20 | 98 | 26 |
| Charlie Miller, Capistrano Valley Christian | 19 | 101 | 27 |
| Roman Arriaga, Troy | 19 | 101 | 28 |
| Ryan Padayao, Foothill | 19 | 83 | 28 |
| Blake Klassen, JSerra | 19 | 67 | 18 |
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Albano’s Diamond Club: Orange County softball standouts of the week, April 29
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Dan Albano’s softball players of the week:
Ali Belarde, Los Alamitos, Jr.
The Utah-committed third baseman went 2 for 4 with a double and inside-the-park, grand slam to help the Griffins earn a share of the Surf League title with a 6-3 victory at Marina.
Lalli Lopez, Foothill, Sr.
The right-hander fired a compete game and allowed one run in a 7-1 upset of Villa Park that qualified the Knights for the Division 2 playoffs.
Maddie McNally, Sonora, Jr.
The shortstop went 2 for 2 and scored three runs to help the Raiders beat La Habra 17-6 and clinch a share of the Freeway League title, their first since 2004.
Jayleena Perez, Anaheim, Jr.
The speedy center fielder went 3 for 4 with a key two-run double in the fourth inning to help lead the Colonists past visiting Katella 11-1 for its first Orange League title.
Please send nominees for the Diamond Club to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County softball strikeout leaders: Final 2019
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The final Orange County softball strikeout leaders for 2019, through Sunday, April 28.
| NAME, SCHOOL | K | BF | IP |
| Kylee Magee, Canyon | 205 | 126.1 | |
| Brooklyn Carreon, Whittier Christian | 193 | 490 | 119 |
| Ashlee Laver, Woodbridge | 132 | 571 | 132.1 |
| Carley Brown, Aliso Niguel | 119 | 638 | 143.2 |
| Alexis Litvak, Costa Mesa | 117 | 600 | 119.1 |
| Lindsey Manhart, Trabuco Hills | 104 | 371 | 80.2 |
| CJ Garcia, Fountain Valley | 102 | 480 | 96.2 |
| Anna Bjorklund, Crean Lutheran | 99 | 362 | 70.1 |
| Lexi Lacy, Yorba Linda | 94 | 662 | 133.2 |
| Raeonna Flores, San Clemente | 94 | 406 | 93 |
| Emily Rush, Marina | 89 | 622 | 150 |
| Jolie Gustave, Mater Dei | 86 | 429 | 103 |
| LeeAnne Miranda, Westminster | 85 | 136 | 75.1 |
| Taylor Caudill, JSerra | 84 | 296 | 69.1 |
| Isabella Savala, Brea Olinda | 84 | 505 | 112.2 |
| Katelin Reyes, El Modena | 81 | 417 | 96.1 |
| Sophia Skerik, Corona del Mar | 81 | 482 | 99.2 |
| Jenna Bloom, Edison | 80 | 282 | 66.2 |
| Lauren Salcedo, Valencia | 76 | 424 | 91.2 |
| Odhi Vasquez, Foothill | 76 | 257 | 55.1 |
| Sydney Somerdike, Villa Park | 74 | 118 | |
| Bella Fiorentino, Santa Margarita | 73 | 512 | 127 |
| Miranda Stoddard, Orange Lutheran | 71 | 380 | 96.1 |
| Sydney Spencer, Irvine | 69 | 322 | 68.2 |
| Alyssa Ledezma, Fountain Valley | 68 | 45 | |
| Jackie Diaz, University | 65 | 361 | 76.1 |
| Natalie Carlos, Godinez | 64 | 69.2 | |
| Makenah Reddick, Bolsa Grande | 63 | 573 | 107.1 |
| Rena Rocha, Santiago | 60 | 223 | 58 |
| Tereise Tosi, Eastside Christian | 60 | 231 | 42 |
| McKayla Cotton, Newport Harbor | 59 | 395 | 81.2 |
| Alexa Espinoza, Orangewood Academy | 59 | 352 | 60.2 |
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County scores and player stats for Monday (4-29-19)
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Scores and stats for the Orange County games on Monday, April 29.
BOYS LACROSSE
ORANGE COUNTY PLAYOFFS
Play-in game
Beckman 13, Edison 7
Beck: Texter 4 goals. Wilson 3 goals.
Edi: Timmons 4 goals.
Note: Beckman advances to play St. Margaret’s Tuesday.
BOYS GOLF
TRINITY LEAGUE
Orange Lutheran 193, St. John Bosco 205
Los Coyotes CC (par 35)
Medalist: Greene (OLu) 33. Nazir (OLu) 37.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Toast Kitchen and Bakery gives back to the community and benefits Project Hope Alliance in May
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When the Costa Mesa fixture The Golden Truffle finally closed its doors last year, the vacuum was quickly filled by Toast Kitchen and Bakery. The opening was followed a week later by its sister shop FILL, an exotic ice cream emporium that also features mochi doughnuts and masaladas, a savory Portuguese beignet prepared and served on weekends only. Bakery, ice cream and an inspired dinner menu? What’s happening here?
To answer that, one must also ask what would impel one of the top pastry chefs in Los Angeles – an alumnus of Providence, Water Grill, Lukshon and Father’s Office – to move his young family to Orange County to open a reasonably priced chef-driven concept masquerading as a low-key neighborhood brunch spot.
“You might say we were called to move here,” says chef John Park.
And it didn’t require a cellular data plan. This was a spiritual call suggesting a change that would include a new engagement with a new community. Before the move, Park had owned and operated the high-end ice cream parlor Quenelle, with locations in Burbank and San Marino. He staged a series of “Pie Pop-ups” to benefit a variety of nonprofits. This impulse toward community engagement and service is a primary inspiration for Park and Toast Kitchen Bakery. Park partners with a different local non-profit organization every month and donates 10 percent of his monthly net profit to the cause. For May Toast’s non-profit partner is Project Hope Alliance, an organization that supports homeless children across Orange County. (Its CEO Jennifer Friend, was one of last year’s Women of Coast.)
If that fails to provide sufficient inspiration for a visit, allow us to recommend the food. Avocado toast is now a clichéd emblem of the latest nouvelle-Cali food trends. However, Park’s version is otherworldly.
Festooned with purple kale and cauliflower pickled with rooibos, splayed pale yellow popcorn shoots, shaved radish curls, dotted with crème fraîche and lightly dressed with a lemon turmeric vinaigrette, the dish presents as an exotic alien landscape. The fulsome creaminess of the avocado is neatly matched by the crunchy pickled cauliflower and the tart citrus tease of the vinaigrette. The dish elicits an unusual play of layered texture and flavor if one bothers to notice, before wolfing it down. It’s not an ordinary version of the popular “toast.” Its mindful artfulness reflects the soul of the chef. As Park reminds us, at Toast Kitchen and Bakery, “There’s a greater purpose.”
And don’t forget the ice cream!
LEMON TURMERIC VINAIGRETTE
Ingredients
5 lemons, juiced
¼ cup water
4 tbs sugar
½ tbs honey
½ tbs shallot, minced
½ tsp garlic, minced
¾ tsp turmeric
¾ tsp whole grain mustard
¾ cup canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste.
Method
Combine all ingredients, except the oil, salt and pepper.
Slowly whisk in the oil until fully emulsified.
Adjust seasoning with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
TOAST KITCHEN AND BAKERY1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa :: toastkitchenbakery.com
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Softball notes: Highly-ranked Edison misses playoffs as at-large candidate
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Edison’s softball team ended the ultra-tough Surf League by grinding out a victory to finish one game out of first place and as essentially the third-best club from the four-team group.
But unfortunately for the Chargers, their impressive victories against Division 1 contenders Los Alamitos (twice) and Huntington Beach (twice) in the league weren’t enough to get them into the playoffs Monday.
The Chargers (16-10), ranked sixth in Orange County and No. 10 in the final Division 2 poll, were a glaring omission as the CIF-Southern Section revealed its playoff pairings.
Division 2’s 32-team bracket was stocked with all automatic qualifiers – 33, to be exact – and there was no room for at-large berths, including Coach Melissa Roth’s Edison team.
“It’s just awful,” Edison athletic director Rich Boyce said. “Very tough break for Edison softball. CIF has to fix that from happening. … It’s just not a good look.”
The Surf League’s automatic entries went to co-champions Marina (Division 2) and Los Alamitos (Division 1). Huntington Beach – which lost 2 of 3 to Edison in tying with the Chargers for third in the Surf League – found an at-large berth in Division 1.
The crowded Division 2 bracket almost didn’t include Marina, the No. 1 seed on Monday. If Edison and Arkansas-bound ace Jenna Bloom didn’t beat Huntington Beach 1-0 last week, the Surf League’s three-way tie for first place would have pushed the Vikings to at-large status based on the head-to-head series tie-breaker.
Boyce said the Sunset Conference might discuss the possibility of presenting a proposal in the future to the section council to help ease these types of scenarios. The next releaguing cycle also could offer relief.
Section assistant commission Thom Simmons said the organization sympathies with Edison but mentioned the past releaguing cycle.
“The CIF-SS is not involved in releaguing and once those schools in Orange County broke up those eight schools into two leagues of four, they did so with the knowledge that four-team leagues only get two automatic entries,” he said.
The Surf League will return for its second-year next spring with a similar setup. “Group of death,” Boyce said.
Top seeds
Sonora, co-champion of the Freeway League with La Habra, won a coin-flip with the Highlanders for the league’s No. 1 playoff entry and earned the No. 4 seed in Division 2.
Other top seeds: Godinez in Division 4 (second to undefeated Aquinas), Whittier Christian in Division 5 (third), Santiago (first) and Anaheim (third) in Division 6 and La Quinta in Division 7 (fourth).
Best first-round games
Two of the best Division 1 games to watch Thursday: Mater Dei (14-10-1) at Esperanza (18-8) and Huntington Beach (15-8) at fourth-seeded Grand Terrace (25-3-1). Esperanza features some talented hitters while Grand Terrace placed fifth at Carew Classic.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Whicker: El Camino College baseball team plays and pitches through the pain
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TORRANCE — The El Camino College baseball team was supposed to meet at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 19. A game against Taft would follow.
Nate Fernley, the coach, sent out a text that moved the meeting to 9:30. Only a few knew why.
Ty Conrad was uneasy because Sladen Mohl was his roommate, a guy who always was where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there. But Mohl never came home the previous night.
Ian Brady knew because his dad, a police officer, had told him.
Assistant coach Grant Palmer had gotten a call from officials at the Alaska Summer League, where the Warriors’ staff had first seen Mohl.
The rest would hear it from Fernley, who never had been asked to crush so many souls before, and knew there wasn’t an instructional video.
The day before, Mohl was standing on a traffic island at the intersection of Sepulveda and Hawthorne. A 16-year-old driver, apparently under the influence, crashed into Mohl and then two cars.
“He was here one day and the next day he was gone,” Fernley said Monday, in his office behind home plate.
“All of that was such a blur. I got a bunch of texts from his mom at about 6:30 a.m., and then from a buddy of mine who’s in the police department. Everything was a whirlwind.”
Fernley explained what happened, watched their distress. Some players said they wanted to play that day anyway. Too many others were in pieces.
“There was no chance,” Fernley said. The game was canceled.
The parents, Kelly Holter and Michael Mohl, flew down from Alaska. On Easter Sunday the team attended a church service in San Pedro, actually in a restaurant, conducted by a friend of the team’s.
Monday brought the memorial service, where Fernley heard his freshmen and sophomores say “phenomenal things, all the perfect words.” He took Mohl’s parents to the airport last weekend, as the Warriors played again.
They beat L.A. Harbor three times. They are 32-6. The No. 2 seed in the Southern California Regional, they next play a best-of-three series against an undetermined opponent, on the first of three weekends that stand between them and a berth in the four-team state championships on May 25-27 in Fresno.
Dealing with death is a universal passage. This one, however, was ridiculously cruel. “I hope the guys saw what the ramifications can be from a horrible decision,” Fernley said.
This horrible decision robbed Mohl of his future and denied everyone else the chance to say goodbye. Community college teams only spend two years together, except for redshirts. Ties aren’t bound, not automatically.
“We’ll see a guy develop as a sophomore and we’ll be so happy and then we realize he’s going to leave,” Fernley said. “We feel that if this is the last place that he plays, then we’ve failed. I know nobody grows up in the backyard dreaming about playing for El Camino. I get it. But I think we’ve built a foundation here.
“Sometimes a guy will be disappointed that he’s here, that he isn’t in Division I, and he’s saying, ‘Well, I’ll go there and kill it.’ And then he looks at the other players and says, ‘Uh-oh.’ It’s pretty high-caliber.”
Until April 19, El Camino’s story was its pitchers. They’re all really good and really different.
Freshman Jimmy Galicia (9-2, 1.82 ERA) got through seven innings in 55 pitches the other day and has given up 61 hits in 89 innings.
Sophomore Max Pappas (7-1, 2.39) is 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, and was the Warriors’ bridge reliever last year during a playoff run.
Sophomore Aaron Orozco (10-1, 2.27) led the conference in strikeouts, with 88 in 83⅓ innings and is also the DH. He has the best velocity, in the low 90s, but needed an extra year to square away his bookwork. Not many guys agree to redshirt, on the JC level, but he did.
Sophomore Spencer Long was a starter last year and plays second base. As the closer, he has given up one earned run in 21 games, with eight saves. He has a full tank for the playoffs.
“Jimmy might be having the best year of anybody I’ve coached,” Fernley said. “Max doesn’t throw hard but he’s that super-competitive guy you can count on. Aaron was talented enough to go to Division I. He gets emotional, and he’s better that way. And Spencer could be the best of the bunch.”
There’s a time to mourn and a time to play, the longer the better. Fernley sat at his desk and said he thought the blur had passed.
He also said, “I do worry about them, when the season’s over.”
In a world that they know is out of their control, at least they can decide that.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5Orange County softball hits leaders: Final 2019 regular season
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The final Orange County softball hits leaders for the 2019 regular season, through Sunday, April 28.
| NAME, SCHOOL | HITS | AB | BA |
| Ciara Briggs, Orange Lutheran | 53 | 90 | .589 |
| Savannah Pola, Godinez | 50 | 88 | .568 |
| Haley Wolf, Costa Mesa | 45 | 81 | .556 |
| Skylar Chavez, Villa Park | 44 | 98 | .449 |
| Miranda Johnson, Santa Margarita | 43 | 85 | .505 |
| Mariah Rodriguez, Orange Lutheran | 42 | 94 | .447 |
| Kaci Branch, Villa Park | 42 | 106 | .396 |
| Amerys Barshtak, Corona del Mar | 41 | 79 | .519 |
| Amanda Foglesong, Fullerton | 40 | 86 | .465 |
| Eliana Gottlieb, Newport Harbor | 39 | 66 | .591 |
| Angie Yellen, Santa Margarita | 39 | 90 | .433 |
| CJ Garcia, Fountain Valley | 38 | 83 | .458 |
| Katie Belmontes, Costa Mesa | 38 | 63 | .603 |
| Lindsey Blanchfield, Newport Harbor | 37 | 81 | .457 |
| Bella Fiorentino, Santa Margarita | 37 | 78 | .474 |
| Airlin Ramirez, Godinez | 35 | 83 | .422 |
| Samantha Villanueva, Godinez | 35 | 87 | .402 |
| Megan Mikami, Beckman | 35 | 74 | .473 |
| Hailey Fink, El Modena | 35 | 81 | .432 |
| Lola Fisher, Laguna Beach | 35 | 62 | .565 |
| Danielle Nii, El Modena | 34 | 74 | .459 |
| Brooklyn Carreon, Whittier Christian | 34 | 75 | .453 |
| Justine Boyle, Foothill | 33 | 92 | .359 |
| Leah Freeman, Newport Harbor | 33 | 82 | .402 |
| Alexandra Molina, Segerstrom | 33 | 75 | .440 |
| Madison Simon, Beckman | 33 | 72 | .458 |
| Alison Steinker, JSerra | 33 | 76 | .434 |
| Natalie Carlos, Godinez | 33 | 80 | .412 |
| Alyssa Ledezma, Los Amigos | 33 | 53 | .623 |
| Makena Tomlinson, Corona del Mar | 32 | 78 | .410 |
| Kendall Kelly, Newport Harbor | 32 | 80 | .400 |
| Emily Rush, Marina | 32 | 76 | .421 |
| Alexis Campos, Orangewood Academy | 32 | 44 | .727 |
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5IS leader appears in video for first time in 5 years
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By ZEINA KARAM and BASSEM MROUE
BEIRUT — The shadowy leader of the Islamic State group appeared for the first time in five years in a video released by the extremist group’s propaganda arm on Monday, acknowledging defeat in the group’s last stronghold in Syria but vowing a “long battle” ahead.
The SITE Intelligence group said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in the video, also discussed the Easter Day bombings in Sri Lanka which killed over 250 people and for which the group claimed responsibility.
The video released by Al-Furqan on Monday shows al-Baghdadi with a bushy grey and red beard, wearing a black robe with a beige vest and seated on the floor with what appears to be a machine gun propped up next to him. He is speaking with three men seated opposite him whose faces were covered and blotted out.
It is his first video appearance since he delivered a sermon at the al-Nuri mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014. In that video, he appeared as a black-robed figure with a trimmed black beard to deliver a sermon from the pulpit of the mosque in which he urged Muslims around the world to swear allegiance to the caliphate and obey him as its leader.
Al-Bagdadi acknowledged that IS lost the war in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz, which was captured last month by the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
“In fact, the battle of Islam and its people against the Crusaders and their followers is a long battle,” he said.
He said the battle of Baghouz demonstrated the “barbarism and brutality” of the West and the “courage, steadfastness and resilience of the nation of Islam.”
“This steadfastness shocked the hearts of the Crusaders in what increased their rage,” he added.
Referring to the setbacks in battle, he said the “brothers” of the many fallen fighters “will avenge that, as they will not forget as long as they have blood in their veins, and there will be a battle after this one.”
It is unclear when or where the video was filmed. Al-Baghdadi spoke slowly and haltingly in the video.
With a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, al-Baghdadi is the world’s most wanted man, responsible for steering his chillingly violent organization into mass slaughter of opponents, and directing and inspiring terror attacks across continents and in the heart of Europe.
Despite numerous claims about his death in the past few years, al-Baghdadi’s whereabouts remain a mystery. He appeared in public only once, in 2014. Since then, many of his top aides have been killed, mostly in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.
He is among the few senior IS commanders still at large after two years of steady battlefield losses that saw the self-styled “caliphate” shrink from an area the size of Britain to a tiny speck in the Euphrates River valley.
Although largely seen as a symbolic figurehead of the global terror network — he was described as “irrelevant for a long time” by a coalition spokesman in 2017 — al-Baghdadi’s capture would be a coveted prize for the various players across both Syria and Iraq.
But so far, he has eluded the Americans, Russians, Syrians, Iraqis and Kurds.
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5CIF-SS baseball playoffs: Schedule for wild-card round, first round
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The CIF-SS baseball playoff pairings were released Monday with the schedule for the wild-card round and first round.
BASEBALL
DIVISION 1
First round
Thursday, 3:15 p.m.
San Clemente at Orange Lutheran
Etiwanda at Corona
Ayala at Vista Murrieta
Harvard-Westlake at Valencia
Chaminade at Aliso Niguel
El Toro at South Hills
El Dorado at Bishop Amat
Moorpark at Huntington Beach
Dana Hills at La Mirada
Gahr at Palm Desert
JSerra at Mira Costa
Dos Pueblos at Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks
Edison at Yucaipa
West Ranch at Foothill
Beckman at Capistrano Valley
Servite at Cypress
DIVISION 2
Wild-card round
Wednesday, 3:15 p.m.
A: Garden Grove Pacifica at Redlands
B: Santa Margarita at Kaiser
C: Sierra Canyon at Grace Brethren
D: Loyola at Oaks Christian
E: Long Beach Wilson at Redondo
F: King at Village Christian
G: Glendora at Charter Oak
H: La Salle at Trabuco Hills
I: Calabasas at Simi Valley
J: Millikan at Temecula Valley
First round
Friday, 3:15 p.m.
Winner wild card A at Arcadia
Santa Fe at El Segundo
Winner wild card B at Tahquitz
Winner wild card C at Damien
Winner wild card D at Agoura
Temescal Canyon at La Quinta
Winner wild card E at Santa Barbara
Winner wild card F at Bonita
Winner wild card G at Thousand Oaks
Crescenta Valley at Rio Mesa
Lakewood at Quartz Hill
Winner wild-card H at Maranatha
Winner wild card I at St. Bonaventure
Norco at Don Lugo
Corona del Mar at Villa Park
Winner wild card J at San Dimas
DIVISION 3
Wild-card round
Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.
A: Downey at Saugus
B: Serra at South Torrance
C: Riverside Poly at San Gorgonio
D: Palos Verdes at Segerstrom
E: Grand Terrace at Fullerton
F: Glenn at West Torrance
G: Walnut at Los Osos
H: Campbell Hall at Santa Monica
I: Northwood at San Juan Hills
First round
Thursday, 3:15 p.m.
Winner wild-card A at Paraclete
Winner wild card B at Montebello
Paloma Valley at Katella
Yorba Linda at Capistrano Valley Christian
Northview at Oxnard
Winner wild card C at Cerritos
Winner wild card D at Long Beach Poly
Apple Valley at Great Oak
Winner wild card E at Jurupa Hills
Winner wild card F at Ocean View
Warren at California
Windward at La Canada
Winner wild card G at Victor Valley
Woodcrest Christian at Oak Hills
Winner wild-card H at Torrance
Winner wild card I at Marina
DIVISION 4
Wild-card round
Wednesday, 3:15 p.m.
A: Ventura at Lompoc
B: Muir at Covina
First round
Friday, 3:15 p.m.
Winner wild card A at Sonora
Citrus Hill at Moreno Valley
Rancho Alamitos at Irvine
Garey at Nogales
San Marino at Alhambra
Highland at Ontario Christian
Winner wild card B at Rancho Christian
Chino at Canyon Springs
Temple City at St. Paul
El Rancho at Loara
Sierra Vista at Carter
Mayfair at Kennedy/La Palma
Burbank at Mary Star
Sunny Hills at Culver City
Schurr at La Sierra
Montclair at Summit
DIVISION 5
Wild-card game round
Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.
A: Palmdale at Coachella Valley
First round
Thursday, 3:15 p.m.
Wild card winner A at Pasadena Poly
Whittier Christian at Santa Paula
Savanna at Estancia
Saddleback Valley Christian at Oxford Academy
Big Bear at Rancho Verde
San Jacinto at Ramona
Yucca Valley at Rolling Hills Prep
Rialto at Buckley
Xavier Prep at Indio
Garden Grove at Flintridge Prep
La Quinta/Westminster at St. Margaret’s
Arrowhead Christian at Century
Silverado at Pomona
Fillmore at Salesian
Jurupa Valley at Orange Vista
Knight at Dunn
DIVISION 6
First round
Friday, 3:15 p.m.
Webb, bye
Costa Mesa at de Toledo
Granite Hills at Excelsior
Vista del Lago at St. Monica
Aquinas at Adelanto
Anza Hamilton at Calvary Murrieta
Riverside Notre Dame at El Monte
Gladstone at Trinity Classical
Faith Baptist, bye
Academy for Academic Excellence at Orange
Rowland at Nuview Bridge
St. Anthony at Desert Christian/Lancaster
Carpinteria at Santa Clara
Cathedral City at Miller
Rio Hondo Prep at St. Genevieve
Sultana at Apple Valley Christian
DIVISION 7
First round
Thursday, 3:15 p.m.
Desert Chapel at United Christian
Cate at Lennox Academy
Valley Christian/Santa Maria at Pacifica Christian/Santa Monica
Shalhevet at Hillcrest Christian
Edgewood at Riverside Bethel Christian
La Verne Lutheran at Redlands Adventist
Vistamar at Animo Leadership
St. Monica Academy at Arroyo
Indian Springs at Bloomington Christian
Rosemead at Hesperia Christian
Vasquez at Sherman Indian
Santa Clarita Valley International at Southwestern Academy
Calvary Baptist at Tarbut V’Torah
Pasadena Marshall at Ojai Valley
Da Vinci at Bosco Tech
Mesa Grande at University Prep
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