By MICHAEL TARM and SOPHIA TAREEN

CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel has taken his fight against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies to court, with Chicago becoming one of the first cities Monday to sue the government over what many U.S. cities argue are illegal bids to withhold public safety grants from so-called sanctuary cities.

The 46-page lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, a day after Emanuel announced the litigation and said the city won’t “be blackmailed” into changing its values as a welcoming city. He argued it’s unconstitutional for a city “to be coerced on a policy.”

A first order of business now that the suit has been filed will be to ask a judge to put a freeze on the policy at least until the civil case plays out, said Edward Siskel, the head of City Hall’s legal department. That request for a preliminary injunction could be made within days.

Chicago officials say there are new qualifications for a grant that requires cities to share information with U.S. immigration authorities, which they allege are unconstitutional. Chicago has received the grant funds since 2005, including $2.3 million last year. They were used for buying police vehicles, radios and SWAT equipment.

“These new conditions — which would give federal officials the power to enter city facilities and interrogate arrestees at will and would force the City to detain individuals longer than justified by probable cause, solely to permit federal officials to investigate their immigration status — are unauthorized and unconstitutional,” the complaint read. “These new conditions also fly in the face of longstanding City policy that promotes cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities, ensures access to essential city services for all residents, and makes all Chicagoans safer.”

Those grant amounts of money are relatively small, but Chicago leaders say they fear more impactful restrictions could be coming and so they hope to establish in court that such government measures are illegal.

It is the latest round in a battle between several major U.S. cities that opt to limit cooperation with federal government efforts to enforce immigration law and the Trump administration, with federal officials threatening for months to withhold funding for sanctuary cities, saying they don’t comply with federal laws.

Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said local governments would lose the money if they do not give advance notice when immigrants in the country illegally are about to be released from custody. He also wants immigration agents to have access to local jails. He has argued that the policy makes everyone safer.

Chicago has been a sanctuary city since the 1980s, beefing up its policies in the past decade, particularly since Trump took office.

The city prohibits police from providing federal Immigration and Customs officials access to people in police custody, unless they are wanted on a criminal warrant or have serious criminal convictions. Local police are also barred from allowing ICE agents to use their facilities for interviews or investigations and from responding to ICE inquiries or talking to ICE officials about a person’s custody status or release date.

Authorities contend the policy helps encourage residents of the immigrant community to inform police when they are victims of crimes.

The lawsuit, which names Sessions, seeks to remove the immigration-related conditions for the grant applications.

When asked for comment about the lawsuit Monday, the Department of Justice spokesman directed The Associated Press to Sessions’ previous comments, including those saying sanctuary cities threaten safety.

“It’s especially tragic that the mayor is less concerned with that staggering figure than he is spending time and taxpayer money protecting criminal aliens and putting Chicago’s law enforcement at greater risk,” said department spokesman Ian D. Prior in an email.

Emanuel and other city leaders have rejected that the city’s policies protect immigrants with criminal records who are living in the U.S. without legal permission. Leaders of several sanctuary cities and counties, including in Chicago, have also dismissed such statements linking immigrants and crime as discriminatory and misleading.

“The rhetoric and the threats from this administration embodied in these new conditions imposed on unrelated public safety grant funds are breeding a culture and a climate of fear within the communities in our city,” said Siskel, the law office director, said at the courthouse after the lawsuit was filed.

In March, the Justice Department sent letters to officials in California and major cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans, all places the Justice Department’s inspector general has identified as limiting the information local law enforcement can provide to federal immigration authorities about those in their custody.

The department warned that the administration will punish communities that refuse to cooperate with efforts to find and deport immigrants in the country illegally. But some of the localities remained defiant, despite risking the loss of funds that police agencies use to pay for everything from body cameras to bulletproof vests.

Don Baylor and Bobby Grich grew up as Baltimore Orioles, playing on a legendary Rochester Triple-A team.

“We had a mantra throughout that organization that I never heard anywhere else,” Grich said Monday. “We said, ‘If we win, everybody had a good year.’’’

If you played with Don Baylor, you had a good year.

You generally won, too. From 1986-88, Baylor went to three World Series on three different teams. Bruce Hurst told him, “Tell me where you’re playing next year so I know who is going to win.”

The Angels played their first game in 1961 and saw their first postseason in 1979. That was the “Yes, We Can” year, when Baylor drove in 138 runs, and Grich noticed how his shoulder and legs ached before games, and Baylor played all 162 of them and led the American League in runs as a cleanup hitter. He was the Angels’ first Most Valuable Player.

He was the centerpiece of the table, weighty and thick, impossible to move. He showed how easily one could live if one divested oneself of the artifice and held onto the grace. A tough trick, but Baylor did it until Monday, when he died at 68, from myeloma that had advanced further than nearly anybody knew.

“He was a great teammate,” Grich said. “Even in the minor leagues he was a leader.

“When he and I and Joe Rudi came to the Angels (as free agents), I was out with a bad disk and Joe was after he was hit by a pitch. The team struggled and Don was the only new guy out there, and he bore the brunt of all the frustration. He could have called the fans front-runners and written them off. Instead he never complained and he just kept playing, and eventually we won.”

The Hall of Fame has become the Hall of Numbers and, as such, has a problem with a guy with the immeasurables of Baylor.

He  had one 100-RBI season, 2,135 hits and a .260 average, and he hit 338 home runs. Those are disqualifiers. He was on the ballot for two years and got 2.6 percent of the votes both times.

Never mind the number of 3,000-hit men who do their thing, walk out and leave nothing behind but their stats. They deserve Cooperstown, too, but Baylor’s name brought a smile to nearly every teammate. On Monday it brought tears, as well.

How many guys were MVPs and All-Stars and yet managed an expansion team to the playoffs in its third year? Baylor took over the Colorado Rockies in 1993. The Blake Street Bombers were the first National League wild-card club

First there was the strife of the 1995 spring, and the replacement-player scheme. Baylor wanted no part of anything that defiled baseball or mocked the men who had earned their way to the majors.

“”He’d sit in his office and figure out the lineup, and if the game started at 1:05 he was out there at 1:03,” said Mike Swanson, then the Rockies’ director of communications. “We had cast members from ‘Major League 2’ on that team. Every day he would ask me, ‘Heard anything yet?’  When it (the lockout) was settled, he was the happiest man you ever saw.”

One of Baylor’s few impudent moments came when he got to Baltimore and faced an outfield logjam. “Once I get in the groove, it won’t matter who’s out there,” he said offhandedly.

For weeks on end, Frank Robinson and Mark Belanger pounded him with comments. Baylor’s lifelong nickname became Groove. It became his license plate.

His first mentor was Robinson, who conducted kangaroo court hearings in the clubhouse and fined players for various misdeeds. Baylor took up the gavel in Boston.

But Grich says Baylor’s true legacy was the Sixty-Five Roses campaign, for victims of cystic fibrosis. Prompted by Dr. Gene Moses in 1979, Baylor organized the annual golf tournament that has been replicated in every pro sports league.

“He’s raised $10 million,” Grich said. “The life expectancy is now 37 years old.”

Few CF children saw their first birthday in the 30s, but in 1989 doctors discovered the gene that caused it. Baylor only said he wanted to hear one thing: “Yes, we did.” He wanted the bottom-line cure.

Baylor was a strong union supporter, and he clashed with George Steinbrenner and Buzzie Bavasi. He was prideful and opinionated in a sport that prefers submissiveness.

But he was the axis of every clubhouse, and his friends didn’t just grieve Monday. They felt unbalanced. They were accustomed to good years, because to know Don Baylor was to borrow winning.

The sun is setting on summer break for Orange County students.

Savanna School District students have already headed back to the classroom and more seats will be filling this week as other north Orange County districts start up their new school year.

Here  is a calendar of when public schools on traditional calendars – this won’t include year-round schools – are scheduled to go back to school.

DANA POINT  — A juvenile gray whale was amazing beachgoers at Baby Beach, early Tuesday morning, Aug. 8, as it rolled in the mud in shallow water.

“It was right in the kid’s swim area, and it looked like it was going to get stuck,” said Nathan Good, a 12-year-old from San Clemente who was on the Manute’a with a group of 27 other junior guards. “The captain sailed over and we got to see it. It was awesome. It was a baby and it was cute.”

The gray whale was first spotted in Dana Point harbor around 6:30 a.m. by a paddleboarder who later told Dominic Biagini, an aerial photographer for Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari.

Biagini started filming the whale by drone at Baby Beach, watching as it worked its way up the north side past the Pilgrim tall ship. From there, the whale circled a small fishing pier several times.

Biagini watched as a woman jumped off her kayak into the water next to the whale. “The whale spy hopped to look at her, Biagini said. “I’ve filmed a lot of animals, but this is amazing.”

Word of the whale spread quickly among stand-up paddle boarders, parents with young children hanging out at Baby Beach, harbor walkers and merchants.

About 10 a.m. Capt. Dave Anderson, who had Good and his fellow junior guards and 20 other passengers aboard Manute’a, followed the whale from their dock to Baby Beach and watched as it fed in the mud in water no more than 12 feet deep near the Ocean Institute.

By 11 a.m., the whale was still near the Ocean Institute blowing bubbles and meandering in shallow water.

Donna Kalez, of Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching, had run to Baby Beach to see the whale but was told by paddleboarders it had left the harbor.

Just as she got into her office at Dana Wharf, Ken Stettson, manager of Embacadero Marina, called her flustered that he had a whale in six-feet of water just off the boat ramp.

Kalez ran over and watched as the whale swam from one side of the boat ramp to the other. She called Justin Viezbicke, marine mammal coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to see if there should be some intervention.

Viezbicke told her, the whale would likely find its way out, she said.

Kalez watched as the whale swam up the channel past her own boat docks and then out past the bait ramp. All in the harbor are hopeful the whale will find it’s way out.

“It’s trying to feed,” Kalez said.

Anderson described the whale as about 18-feet long.

“The whale is really skinny,” Anderson said. “I’m a little concerned that it hasn’t been eating that well.”

The sighting isn’t totally unusual. Whales occasionally enter the harbor and swim down the channel to the Ocean Institute. But this whale has gone farther into the harbor and has passed through the inner channel.

Also gray whales aren’t usually seen in Southern California at this time. Most of the migration from Baja to the Bering Sera in Alaska is finished by the end of May.

“We’re pretty sure it’s the same whale that was spotted in Carlsbad yesterday,” Anderson said. “Just because there are not many gray whales seen here at this time. They’re rarely seen this late in the season unless they’re entangled.”

A gray whale was spotted Monday near Tamarack, drawing more than 300 people before it disappeared, according to news reports out of San Diego.

“There was quite a crowd and the whale was in the channel that connects from the ocean to the lagoon off Tamarack Beach,” said Biagini, who lives in La Jolla. “To me it looks like a juvenile that was not well fed.”

Anderson said some whales never go on the full migration and sometimes take up residence along the route.

“The main thing is, he will need enough food to sustain himself if he stays in the area,” Anderson said. “They normally feed off the bottom. Once they get up to Oregon, there is more concentrated prey.”

ORANGE – A man killed in a two-vehicle crash on Sunday has been identified as 81-year-old Clark Adams of Anaheim, according to the Orange County Coroner’s Office.

The collision was reported at 8:22 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6 on Santiago Canyon Road near North Meads Avenue in Orange.

Adams was driving a Mazda 5 and a 23-year-old woman from San Bernardino was operating a Honda Accord east on Santiago Canyon Road when the collision occurred, said Orange Lt. Fred Lopez.

The woman sustained moderate injuries and was transported to an area hospital, where she was treated and released.

The crash remains under investigation.

By KRISTIN M. HALL

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  — Glen Campbell, the grinning, high-pitched entertainer whose dozens of hit singles included “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Wichita Lineman” and whose appeal spanned country, pop, television and movies, died Tuesday, his family said. He was 81.

Campbell’s family said the singer died Tuesday morning in Nashville and publicist Sandy Brokaw confirmed the news. No cause was immediately given. Campbell announced in June 2011 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and that it was in its early stages at that time.

In the late 1960s and well into the ’70s, the Arkansas native seemed to be everywhere, known by his boyish face, wavy hair and friendly tenor. He won five Grammys, sold more than 45 million records, had 12 gold albums and 75 chart hits, including No. 1 songs with “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights.”

His performance of the title song from “True Grit,” a 1969 release in which he played a Texas Ranger alongside Oscar winner John Wayne, received an Academy Award nomination. He twice won album of the year awards from the Academy of Country Music and was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Seven years later, he received a Grammy for lifetime achievement.

He was among a wave of country crossover stars that included Johnny Cash, Roy Clark and Kenny Rogers, and like many of his contemporaries, he enjoyed success on television. Campbell had a weekly audience of some 50 million people for the “Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,” on CBS from 1969 to 1972. He gained new fans decades later when the show, featuring his cheerful greeting “Hi I’m Glen Campbell,” was rerun on cable channel CMT.

“I did what my Dad told me to do — ‘Be nice, son, and don’t cuss. And be nice to people.’ And that’s the way I handled myself, and people were very, very nice to me,” Campbell told The Telegraph in 2011.
He released more than 70 of his own albums, and in the 1990s recorded a series of gospel CDs. A 2011 farewell album, “Ghost On the Canvas,” included contributions from Jacob Dylan, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins.

The documentary “Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me” came out in 2014. The film about Campbell’s 2011-12 farewell tour offers a poignant look at his decline from Alzheimer’s while showcasing his virtuoso guitar chops that somehow continued to shine as his mind unraveled. The song “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” won a Grammy for best country song in 2015 and was nominated for an Oscar for best original song.

Campbell’s musical career dated back to the early years of rock ‘n roll. He toured with the Champs of “Tequila” fame when the group included two singers who formed the popular ’70s duo Seals & Crofts. He was part of the house band for the ABC TV show “Shindig!” and a member of Phil Spector’s “Wrecking Crew” studio band that played on hits by the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers and the Crystals. He played guitar on Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers In the Night,” the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” and Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas.”

“We’d get the rock ‘n’ roll guys and play all that, then we’d get Sinatra and Dean Martin,” Campbell told The Associated Press in 2011. “That was a kick. I really enjoyed that. I didn’t want to go nowhere. I was making more money than I ever made just doing studio work.”

A sharecropper’s son, and one of 12 children, he was born outside of Delight, Ark., and grew up revering country music stars such as Hank Williams.

“I’m not a country singer per se,” Campbell once said. “I’m a country boy who sings.”

He was just 4 when he learned to play guitar. As a teenager, anxious to escape a life of farm work and unpaid bills, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to join his uncle’s band and appear on his uncle’s radio show. By his early 20s, he had formed his own group, the Western Wranglers, and moved to Los Angeles. He opened for the Doors and sang and played bass with the Beach Boys as a replacement for Brian Wilson, who in the mid-’60s had retired from touring to concentrate on studio work. In 1966, Campbell played on the Beach Boys’ classic “Pet Sounds” album.

“I didn’t go to Nashville because Nashville at that time seemed one-dimensional to me,” Campbell told the AP. “I’m a jazzer. I just love to get the guitar and play the hell out of it if I can.”

By the late ’60s, he was a performer on his own, an appearance on Joey Bishop’s show leading to his TV breakthrough. Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers saw the program and asked Campbell if he’d like to host a summertime series, “The Summer Brothers Smothers Show.”

Campbell shied from the Smothers Brothers’ political humor, but still accepted the offer. He was out of the country when the first episode aired.

“The whole lid just blew off,” Campbell told the AP. “I had never had anything like that happen to me. I got more phone calls. It was awesome. For the first couple of days I was like how do they know me? I didn’t realize the power of television.”

His guests included country acts, but also the Monkees, Lucille Ball, Cream, Neil Diamond and Ella Fitzgerald.

He was married four times and had eight children. As he would confide in painful detail, Campbell suffered for his fame and made others suffer as well. He drank heavily, used drugs and indulged in a turbulent relationship with country singer Tanya Tucker in the early 1980s.

He is survived by his wife, Kim; their three children, Cal, Shannon and Ashley; and his children from previous marriages, Debby, Kelli, Travis, Kane and Dillon. He had 10 grandchildren.

In late 2003, he was arrested near his home in Phoenix after causing a minor traffic accident. He later pleaded guilty to “extreme” DUI and leaving the scene of an accident and served a 10-day sentence.

Among Campbell’s own hits, “Rhinestone Cowboy” stood out and became his personal anthem. Written and recorded by Larry Weiss in 1974, “Rhinestone Cowboy” received little attention until Campbell heard it on the radio and quickly related to the story of a veteran performer who triumphs over despair and hardship. Campbell’s version was a chart topper in 1975.

“I thought it was my autobiography set to song,” he wrote 20 years later, in his autobiography, titled “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

IRVINE — The annual Back to School Endless Summer Fest will return to Irvine Spectrum Center this weekend, featuring dance and musical performances as well as giveaways and shopping deals.

World of Dance Live! and choral group Young Americans will headline this year’s event. Throughout the shopping center, there will be DJs on stage, in-store events, D.I.Y. stations, giveaways and a vintage Volkswagen Bus photo booth.

World of Dance Live! will kick off the weekend with a Friday night concert featuring Diana Pombo, Nick Daniels, hip-hop crew The Lab, as well YouTube sensations Nonstop and local Orange County dance crew, Fuego.

Calendar of events:

Friday, Aug. 11

5 p.m. – DJs kick off Irvine Spectrum Center’s Back to School Endless Summer Fest

6:45 p.m. – KIIS FM morning show’s Sisanie co-hosts with World of Dance Live! for the 7 p.m. performance

7 p.m. – World of Dance Live! performance

Saturday, Aug. 12

4- 8 p.m. – In-store parties begin; live activations and DJs throughout Irvine Spectrum Center and a Volkswagen Bus photo booth and selfie station in Carousel Courtyard

5 p.m. – Giant Wheel Court: DJ and prize spin wheel

6-8 p.m. – KIIS FM 102.7 street team gets the evening in gear

7 p.m. – A special performance by The Young Americans

Sunday, Aug. 13

4- 8 p.m. – In-store parties begin, including live activations and DJs throughout Irvine Spectrum Center; Volkswagen photo booth and selfie station in Carousel Courtyard

5 p.m. – Giant Wheel Court: DJ and prize spin wheel

7 p.m. – DJ Class

It’s International Cat Day! In honor of feline friends everywhere, here are 25 adorable, funny, quirky and sassy cats to get you through the day.

Grandparents and grandkids had a day of play at the annual Grandparent’s Fun Day on Saturday, Aug. 5 at Clubhouse Two, which was transformed into a carnival with fun, snacks and activities.

From 3 to 7 p.m., children and seniors alike were able to enjoy activities including water slides, a bounce house, a 68-foot obstacle course, a dunk tank, game booths, prizes, relay races, clowns and face painting. Snacks included crafts, cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones.

“Our Grandparent’s Fun Day on Saturday was a blowout,” Village Management Services General Manager Brad Hudson said. “I think we had 600 tickets available and it was a sell out.”

New additions to this year’s event included Moana, Captain America, Bubblemania and Euro Bungee.

Most enterprising cities

Irvine was ranked the third most enterprising city in the country by e-commerce company Volusion.

The ranking reveals the top cities where small- and medium-sized businesses flourish, based on data from more than 30,000 merchants across the U.S. who run their online shops using the Volusion platform, according to a news release.

After adjusting per capita, San Diego, Tampa, Fla., and Irvine took the top three spots for the number of merchants and average revenue during the first half of 2017, followed by Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Baltimore, Indianapolis, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Minneapolis.

Representing the country

Irvine resident Rose Zhang, 14, will represent the United States at the PING Junior Solheim Cup.

Run by the American Junior Golf Association, the event will be at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, Aug. 14-16, 2017. Zhang was selected to join the team by Team USA Captain Alice Miller.

Nonprofit grants

Cox Charities will award $50,000 in grants to Orange County nonprofit organizations to support youth, education, conservation and military initiatives. Applications are accepted at coxcharitiesca.org until Sept. 1. Cox Charities, the philanthropic arm of Cox Communications funded by employee donations that are matched by the company, will consider requests up to $5,000.

Laser Week 2017

Irvine Valley College will host its 2017 Laser Week Aug. 16-18, where first-time college students can learn about the college’s academic programs, campus resources and college life while connecting with faculty, staff and fellow students.

Each day includes breakfast, workshops, lunch and entertainment, campus tours and prize drawings. The event is 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Registration: admissions.ivc.edu/pages/lw.aspx

Poke Me

Poke Me, which opened three locations in Los Angeles in the past year and a half, will open its first Orange County restaurant in Irvine.

The build-your-own poke bowl shop will host its grand opening celebration noon Aug. 18 in the Heritage Plaza at Culver Drive and Trabuco Road. Poke Me will give away 25 swag bags full of goodies to the first 25 customers and one lucky winner will win free poke for an entire year.

Pancake breakfast

Grant Thornton will host its 10th annual Pancake Breakfast on Aug. 18 to benefit BLCI, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide comprehensive programs that empower elementary through high school students.

This event will be hosted by the company’s summer interns in the Irvine Towers Courtyard, 18200 Von Karman Ave.. The breakfast is 7:30-9:30 a.m. Grant Thornton is asking for a $5 donation for each breakfast. For questions, or to purchase tickets, call Elana Popp at 949-608-5263.

Company relocation

Digital Map Products will move its headquarters to University Research Park next to UC Irvine in late fall, Irvine Co. officials said.

With the 22,000-square-foot lease, the cloud-based location services provider will occupy an entire floor of one of the buildings that hosted the engineering teams at chipmaker Broadcom. Digital Map Products’ new neighbor will be Toshiba America’s electronics components, information systems and logistics divisions.

Promotion

Human Options, an Irvine-based nonprofit organization that offers programs to help abused women, their children and families rebuild their lives, promoted Tustin resident Judy Rose to its chief program officer.

Rose, a licensed clinical social worker, received her Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California and has worked in the field since 2006.

Children and families came out on Tuesday, Aug. 1, for the annual National Night Out celebration at the parking lot outside the Target store at 9882 Adams St.

The Huntington Beach Police Department, showed up with its SWAT, K9, motorcycle and mounted patrol units and staged demonstrations, talked with residents and handed out information – as well as stick-on badges.

The event is held nationally in support of Neighborhood Watch, Neighbors Helping Neighbors and other crime watch and prevention groups. About 20 social service groups and businesses also attended and set up tents.

There was children’s fingerprinting, raffles every half hour, games, face painting, live music and magic acts and food sold to benefit HB Neighborhood Watch.

The event has been held annually since 1984 and is on the first Tuesday in August. It began with neighbors turning on their porch lights and sitting in front of their homes and has expanded over the years.

According to the National Association of Town Watch, which oversees Night Out, the event has grown nationally to include more than 38 million residents in 20,000 communities as of 2016.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO Long detours are in store for south county hikers, joggers, bicyclists and others who use San Juan Creek Trail as their preferred way to get to and from the coast.

Two public works projects – one set to begin in September, the other in 2019 – will require detours along different segments of the creekside trail.

At its Aug. 1 meeting, the San Juan Capistrano City Council agreed to designate a bike/pedestrian detour for use during the Southern California Regional Rail Authority’s $38.3 million replacement of an aging railroad bridge over San Juan Creek.

Work is expected to begin in July 2019 and take 30 months. An underpass used by cyclists and pedestrians to pass beneath the railroad bridge will have to close, officials said.

The approved detour, starting near the underpass, will go west on Avenida Padre, north on Camino Capistrano, west on Del Obispo Street, then south on Paseo Adelanto and the East Trabuco Creek Trail to Descanso Park.

The other detour, beginning in mid-September, is for a $33 million levee upgrade that the county plans to install along San Juan Creek from Stonehill Drive looking north. The upgrade is on both sides of the creek. On the west side – the side used by cyclists and pedestrians – the work will extend from Stonehill Drive to near Mariner Drive and will require a detour from mid-September until around June of 2018, officials said.

Cyclists will be asked to take Mariner Drive west to Del Obispo Street, go south on Del Obispo and east on Stonehill Drive to the creek. Pedestrians won’t have to go that far, as they can use a path that parallels San Juan Creek Trail through Dana Point’s Creekside Park. Bicycles aren’t allowed on that trail.

Mike Mathewson, a San Juan Capistrano cycling advocate, asked the City Council to appeal to the railroad to try to avert or minimize the downtown trail closure because the detour will be a major inconvenience to hundreds who use the trail.

“It’s not just cyclists,” he said. “It’s families with kids with strollers, kids on skateboards, kids on bikes with training wheels and they go down to Doheny to watch the sunset. It’s the only trail to Doheny. It’s the only trail to all the trails along the coast. It’s not just San Juan. It’s everybody in Ladera, Rancho … that’s the connection.”

Larry Kramer, a former San Juan mayor who is an avid cyclist, wrote to the City Council in response to the city-approved downtown detour. “I dare anyone from the City Council to ride a bike along Camino Capistrano and Del Obispo,” he wrote.

He suggested that if cyclists “are going to be horribly inconvenienced and put in danger for 30 months,” the city should ask the railroad to do something positive long-term, like attach a pedestrian/bike bridge along the new rail bridge to open up a public crossing of San Juan Creek that has not existed at this location.

“I do not see how asking would hurt, and it would not cost the city any money,” Kramer wrote.

Councilman Derek Reeve said perhaps the old bridge could be kept in place just for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the creek.

Mathewson suggested the railroad erect a temporary structure for bicyclists and pedestrians during construction. “When they build bridges on the freeway, they don’t shut the freeway for two years,” he said. Or at least phase the bridge construction to minimize the closure, Mathewson said.

The Orange County Transportation Authority, which is a partner with SCRRA on the bridge project, said the existing railroad bridge, built in 1918, will be removed once the new one is in place alongside it and the tracks are routed to it.

“This bridge is being replaced due to some structural concerns,” OCTA spokesman Eric Carpenter said in a statement. “Those concerns would remain if it were changed to a pedestrian bridge.”

OCTA said there is no pedestrian or bicycle access across the creek on the railroad bridge and there is no plan to add access.

Asked about finding a way to keep the existing access open for a time through phasing or by providing some alternate means of access, OCTA said no. “The project involves constructing two bridges – one over the creek and one over the trail,” OCTA said. “There is not enough space to keep the trail open while building the bridge abutments and retaining walls for those bridges.”

Regarding the levee upgrade along San Juan Creek, the county announced that work will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, with occasional Saturday work but no work on Sundays or holidays. OCTA spokesman Shannon Widor said it will not be feasible to let people use the trail when no work is occurring because of equipment and materials on site and safety concerns.

“We don’t want to take any chances on safety,” Widor said via e-mail.

Creekside Park, located along Dana Point’s side of San Juan Creek behind San Juan Creek Trail, will remain open during the San Juan Creek Trail closure. Kramer said he has asked San Juan Capistrano to ask Dana Point to allow bicycles along the path that parallels San Juan Creek Trail to Stonehill Drive during closure. “It’s about a six-foot-wide path,” Kramer said. “It would be a lot safer (for cyclists) going there than going along Del Obispo and Stonehill.”

The levee work on the east side of San Juan Creek will extend farther north than work on the west side, the county said, and the east levee is expected to remain closed until early 2019.

MISSION VIEJO — Mai Griffith has always had a penchant for giving back.

Every Sunday, the 16-year-old Mission Viejo resident volunteers at Saddleback Hospital in Laguna Hills. But because she is under 18, she isn’t allowed to assist with any of the hospital’s medical procedures, regardless of how simple they may be.

So Griffith — who wants as much medical experience as she can get during her journey to becoming a doctor — decided to do the next best thing.

The soon-to-be Santa Margarita Catholic High School junior traveled to Ghana in July, delivering medical supplies for those in need. She also took part in simple medical procedures on patients with leprosy that mostly involved cleaning wounds that had become infected.

In total, Griffith and four others on the trip — including a chaperone and a driver — delivered $2,700 in medical supplies, including 3,000 boxes of Band-Aids, 2,000 boxes of sterile cotton balls, 10 boxes of latex and nitrile gloves each, 1,000 surgical masks and five glucometers.

The trip reaffirmed her passion for the medical field as much as it was an eye-opener, she said.

“Aside from the fact that all the people need help, all the things that are important here don’t matter in a place like that, it’s a much simpler way of life,” she said.

Little more than a year ago, Griffith started the nonprofit Hearts for Hearts Foundation and focused her attention on gathering medical supplies to send to countries that need them. As she received donations, she researched to find which countries had the most critical need.

The idea of traveling to Africa came up. Ghana was listed as one of the safer traveling destinations there and as a country that was still developing.

“I had my heart set on it,” Griffith said.

She collected supplies through donation drives in front of grocery stores and from residents who signed up on her website. She found that getting people to donate, even if it was something as small as a box of Band-Aids, was tougher than she imagined.

“It was disheartening,” said Ann Marie Dryden, Griffith’s mom. “It’s important for people to think about others. We live in a bubble here. You have to be willing to look beyond what is right in front of you.”

The $3,200 cost to ship the supplies was covered by Cindy and Steve Camp of Coto de Caza, Dryden said.

Dryden had reservations about her daughter’s trip, but found a program called Projects Abroad that provided a chaperone for her during the July 8-23 trip.

Griffith said she was relieved when the supplies reached their destination in Ghana.

“Even as we got there, we were worried something would happen where they would lose the supplies or they’d get taken or stolen,” she said. “To see them being used, it all paid off. It all worked and it was all worth it.”

Getting the supplies to Ghana was one thing. But staying in the country and seeing residents suffer from leprosy first-hand was completely different.

“It was a lot more hands on because they have the biggest wounds,” she said. “They don’t feel it because they have no nerve endings to feel the pain.”

Most of Griffith’s work involved treating wounds that had become infected, clearing the infection and then cleaning the surrounding area. In one instance, Griffith learned that honey could be used to cure a wound.

She also tested patients for malaria, cholera and Hepatitis B. Her volunteer work was done in Cape Coast, Ghana, at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, the Ankaful Leprosy Camp and various nursery schools to provide testing for children.

During the two-week trip, Griffith also learned to deal with dirty water, smoke from burned trash and a diet consisting mostly of bread, which resulted in fatigue.

It was a shock, but after the first night, Griffith said she was convinced she could live there.

Through her two-week trip, she not only got to see the benefits of the locals using the donated supplies, she also was able to help the doctors use those supplies. Griffith said it gave her non-profit a purpose.

“They want any help they can get,” Griffith said. “It was heartbreaking.”

She said she wants to plan another trip and is considering the Philippines or Sri Lanka, but not before mom does some diligent research.

At Santa Margarita High, Griffith holds a 4.70 grade-point average, takes all inter baccalaureate and advanced placement classes, and runs short distance events for the track and field team.

Now that she’s made one trip, she said she hopes others on campus may want to get involved and help.

“If you know Mai and how responsible she is, how much she wants to help people and how serious she is about this, it’s hard not to allow that and to hold her back,” her mother said.  “If you could see how happy she was going and how excited she was when she got back, I’ve never seen her happier.”

Breed: Chihuahua-dachshund mix

Age: 3 years

Gender: female

Shari’s story: This sweet girl was brought to the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center when her owner was admitted to a nursing home.  A little shy at first, Shari warms up quickly and will embody the definition of her name. According to Urban Dictionary, “Shari” refers to an amazing, smart, funny and beautiful girl who is easy to talk to, cares about others and brings positive vibes and bright smiles to anyone in proximity. Shari loves other dogs and would enjoy the company of another dog in the home.

Adoption procedure: Stop by the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center at 28095 Hillcrest today to meet this extraordinary little dog. You can also call 949-470-3045 or visit cmvas.org.

Rams quarterback Jared Goff got a surprise recently when actor/director Michael Rapaport swept him away for a helicopter ride over Los Angeles, a trip that included a bird’s-eye view of the construction site of the team’s future stadium in Inglewood.

Take a look:

Ah, SEX.

For many this is still a taboo topic.

For some, sex is a topic certainly not discussed at a seminar.

But the Whole Purpose says it is changing this stigma. On Thursday, July 20, the Irvine lifestyle consulting firm held an informational and interactive sex seminar at the House of Blues in Anaheim.  Dubbed “Sexy Sassy Self,” this was a first-time event.

“We wanted to host a fun, light evening where women could come enjoy a night out with friends at a cool venue and dive deeper into a sex talk,” said the Whole Purpose founder and CEO, Kelly Lam.

Licensed sex therapist Stephanie Buehler spoke on becoming comfortable and open about sexual happiness and desires.

Buehler, who works at Hoag Hospital, addressed a crowd of more than 75 people by saying, “You are revolutionaries.”

Buehler gifted each a copy of her book, “A Heart-Pounding Guide to Passionate Sex.”

The Whole Purpose helps organizations host events that promote a well-balanced lifestyle based on nutrition and physical well-being. It is collaborating with Hoag Hospital.

If you were unable to attend “Sexy Sassy Self,” no need to worry.

Lam says, “We are planning a series of events at various locations with Hoag, all based on women’s health topics in order to provide women with the education and resources they need to live happy healthy lives.”

The Barclay Theater will feature songs from “The Lieutenant” at a night of Broadway music and storytelling at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at 4242 Campus Dr, Irvine. Tustin resident Rachael Cianfrani is working to revive the Vietnam-era, Tony-nominated play – in which her father performed as lead guitarist. Tickets start at $24. Information: 949-854-4646

Susan Christian Goulding, 714-796-6766

sgoulding@scng.com

Earlier this summer, nearly 100 student musicians from the Orange County School of the Arts traveled to Washington, D.C., to play alongside some of their role models.

During the five-day trip, they were guests of the U.S. Air Force Band, the U.S. Navy Band and “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. They received behind-the-scenes access to rehearsals and performances in private facilities that are normally closed to the public and participated in workshops and side-by-side performances with the military musicians. Highlights included performing with the U.S. Army Field Band and “Pershing’s Own” U.S. Army Band at the University of Maryland and George Mason University.

Shelby Ogasawara (SO),  Kendall Lowery (KL) and Jason Cohen (JC) were asked to share their thoughts on the experience.

Q: What has it been like to meet, observe and perform with U.S. military musicians? What have you learned from them?

A: (SO) Playing for the U.S. military musicians has been a true privilege. Their criticisms and recommendations have been incredibly helpful. When playing for the U.S. Air Force Band in a clinic, two incredible trumpet players sat to my side and I could hear how much their playing enhanced our sound as a section.

I especially enjoyed when the U.S. Navy Band Commodores, the Navy’s jazz band, played a piece we had prepared for them, “A Dorham Ajar,” to show us exactly how we could improve. I took that to heart, and I spent hours after focusing on how to become a better jazz improviser and altogether musician.

A:  (KL) The passion and professionalism of the musicians in the ensembles was remarkable, and the discipline and respect that characterized the rehearsals we attended was truly inspirational. Although they conducted themselves in a respectful manner, the military musicians were much more laid back than I expected; members of the Marines’ “President’s Own” and the Air Force’s Airmen of Note were cracking jokes just like we do within our own rehearsals for wind ensemble.

The performance of the U.S. Army Band Woodwind Quintet was a particularly enjoyable performance to witness. Each musician seemed to love performing alongside their peers and excited to educate us about their experiences as military musicians. (I learned that) each musician has to complete roughly two months of basic military training before they are able to participate in their respective ensembles. The title of a military musician isn’t misleading: All of the musicians are actively enlisted in the military. This was a very unique aspect of the profession of which I was previously unaware.

A: (JC) What I have learned, along with many of my other friends and musicians on this journey, is more in depth than just the technique and specific workings of a piece. I have learned to ask questions, to seek out the story behind why a piece of music was composed and to explore the emotions the composer intended for us to feel while we play.

Q: How has the trip shaped you as an artist and an individual?

A: (SO) Accompanying any musical experience is an emotional journey. This trip marked the last time that I would play with some of our graduating seniors in this capacity as well as with our music director, Teren Shaffer. (It) made me want to continue developing my trumpet-playing skills, but also to appreciate every minute that I have playing music with great people by my side.

A: (KL) This trip has helped me reconnect with what I truly love about music: its incredible ability to facilitate emotional connections among people who would have otherwise been completely disconnected. After enduring the unavoidable stress brought on by my junior year of high school, I had been feeling a bit burnt out, both intellectually and musically. This week dedicated purely to music-making helped me to reignite my passion for my art.

A: (JC) As an individual, I learned new techniques and tips for improving my personal playing. Any little piece of advice I have received during this incredible experience will be implemented into my trumpet playing. This trip has also shaped me as an artist in a greater way, as it helped me learn that art is interpretive. Being able to hear and feel the interpretations and different emphasis clinicians gave to our pieces opened my eyes to the incredible musical minds that these musicians have.

Q: If you could relive one moment from the tour again, which would it be and why?

A: (SO) I would relive a moment during our workshop with Mr. Anthony Maiello where he stood before us and begged with his entire being for us to put more into the music. In this moment, he stood behind my conductor and told him to demand more from us, and because the trip was so special, it worked. We filled the air with Hearshen’s “Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa” and it was one of those instances of beauty that only happens once or twice in a lifetime.

A: (KL) One moment that I would relive would have to be when the wind ensemble participated in a clinic with Anthony Maiello, a professor of music at George Mason University. His incredible passion facilitated one of the most inspirational music-making experiences that I have ever participated in. I have never witnessed someone so truly passionate about their field, and he has served as a true inspiration in the clarification of what I want to pursue within my own life.

A: (JC) I would want to relive the clinic with Col. Larry Lang of the U.S. Air Force Band and the outstanding Air Force Band musicians sitting side by side and giving us advice. This was the moment when I realized how amazing our school is, and how unique it was to go on a five-day musical tour of Washington, D.C., to play with almost all major branches of the U.S. military. We were on the military base playing with some of the best musicians in the world, and we learned a great deal about music interpretation and new artistic values as an ensemble.

CONTACT VARSITY ARTS: 714-796-2258 or varsityarts@ocregister.com

By ALAN FRAM

WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump scolded his own party’s Senate leader on Wednesday for the crash of the Republican drive to repeal and rewrite the Obama health care law, using Twitter to demand of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, “Why not done?”

Trump fired back at the Kentucky Republican for telling a home-state audience this week that the president had “not been in this line of work before, and I think had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”

The exchange came less than two weeks after the Senate’s rejection of the GOP effort to scuttle President Barack Obama’s health care law, probably McConnell’s most jolting defeat as leader and Trump’s worst legislative loss. The House approved its version in May, but its Senate failure — thanks to defecting GOP senators — marked the collapse of the party’s attempt to deliver on vows to erase Obama’s statute it’s made since the law’s 2010 enactment.

“Senator Mitch McConnell said I had ‘excessive expectations,’ but I don’t think so,” Trump tweeted. “After 7 years of hearing Repeal & Replace, why not done?”

Trump had repeatedly used Twitter to pressure McConnell to find the votes to approve the health care bill, even saying hours after its failure that GOP senators “look like fools.”

But his tweet Wednesday was an unusually personal reproach of the 33-year Senate veteran, who is deeply respected by his fellow GOP lawmakers. Trump will need him to guide the next major Republican priority — a tax system overhaul — through the chamber, and he might be a useful White House ally as investigations progress into collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

For his part, McConnell’s statement was surprising because he is typically among the capital’s most guarded politicians. When it comes to criticizing Trump, he’s seldom gone further than saying he wishes he would stop tweeting, and often refused to chime in when Trump made widely condemned comments during last year’s presidential campaign.

McConnell told the Rotary Club of Florence, Ky., on Monday that people think Congress is underperforming partly because “artificial deadlines, unrelated to the reality of the complexity of legislating, may not have been fully understood.”

He added that 52 is “a challenging number,” a reference to the GOP’s scant 52-48 Senate majority. “You saw that on full display a couple of weeks ago,” when McConnell failed to muster a majority to push three different Republican health care bills through the chamber.

McConnell’s Kentucky remarks also drew a tweet Wednesday from Dan Scavino Jr., the White House social media director.

“More excuses,” wrote Scavino, one of Trump’s more outspoken loyalists. “@SenateMajLdr must have needed another 4 years – in addition to the 7 years – to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

Also joining the fray was Fox News Host Sean Hannity, a close Trump ally.

“@SenateMajLdr No Senator, YOU are a WEAK, SPINELESS leader who does not keep his word and you need to Retire!” Hannity tweeted.

Hard-right conservatives have long assailed McConnell for being insufficiently ideological and too willing to compromise.

Hours before Trump tweeted about McConnell, the president took his side when he tweeted his endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., for next week’s Senate GOP primary. McConnell has backed Strange in that multi-candidate race.

One of the challengers, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., responded angrily to Trump’s endorsement. On his campaign website, Brooks said, “Mitch McConnell and the Swamp managed to mislead the President last night.”

After Trump criticized McConnell, Brooks weighed in again, tweeting: “I agree completely, Mr. President. McConnell & Strange don’t support your agenda. I do. Reconsider endorsement.”

This is the first year Republicans have been in position to kill Obama’s law because they control the White House and Congress, making last month’s crash of their bill acutely painful for the party.
Before even taking office and after becoming president, Trump spoke often of moving legislation erasing Obama’s law rapidly through Congress. On Jan. 10 — 10 days before taking office — he told The New York Times that Congress could approve a repeal bill “probably sometime next week,” and a separate replacement measure would be passed “very quickly or simultaneously, very shortly thereafter.”

But top congressional Republicans also fed expectations for quick work. They placed health care at the top of their 2017 agenda when the year began. In January, House leaders unveiled a schedule calling for action by late March, and McConnell said in March that he wanted Senate passage by the April recess.

Congress has begun its summer recess without passing any major legislation. It has passed legislation buttressing veterans’ health care and financing the Food and Drug Administration, and the Senate confirmed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

McConnell told the Kentuckians that accusing Congress of no achievements was “extremely irritating.” He said lawmakers should be judged when the current two-year Congress ends in January 2019.

By JONATHAN J. COOPER

SACRAMENTO — A member of California’s political watchdog commission coordinated behind the scenes with a lawyer for state Senate Democrats before tentatively voting to overturn a longstanding precedent that would have limited fundraising by a Democratic lawmaker facing a recall, records show.

The Fair Political Practices Commission approved the change at a meeting last month, rejecting its own lawyers’ legal analysis and accepting the interpretation put forward by the Democratic attorney, Richard Rios.

At issue is whether Democratic state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton can accept unlimited donations from fellow lawmakers in his fight to fend off a recall election.

Longstanding commission guidelines say he can only accept $4,400 from each of his colleagues’ campaign accounts. But at Rios’s request, the commission voted 3-1 on July 27 to lift that restriction. The decision is subject to a final vote at this month’s meeting.

The FPPC enforces campaign finance, conflict of interest, lobbying and government ethics rules and works to promote transparency and trust in government.

Documents released under the California Public Records Act show Commissioner Brian Hatch met with Rios in the Long Beach area and later communicated with him through emails, phone calls and text messages prior to the vote.

The night before Rios submitted a letter asking the commission to change its campaign finance guidance, records show he sent a draft to Hatch, who then suggested an edit. His suggestion to request a hearing at the commission’s “next” meeting instead of the “August” meeting was incorporated into the letter.

Hatch was not prohibited by commission rules from speaking with Rios, and he said his communications with Rios did not affect his vote.

But ethics experts say the discussions could raise public doubt about the decision. Senate Democrats have already faced criticism for jamming a change to recall election procedures through the Legislature without a full public hearing in another effort to help Newman.

Hatch defended his communication with Rios, saying he needed to conduct his own research into the matter because he can’t count on unbiased information from Chair Jodi Remke and the commission staff. Remke and the staff tried to pressure commissioners to adopt a predetermined outcome, he said.

“If I can’t have that stuff presented to me by the staff under the watchful eye of the chair, then I have to find it myself,” Hatch told The Associated Press. “That’s why I’m doing a lot of research myself. This is supposed to be a part-time job but I spend a lot of time.”

Hatch said he made up his mind before ever speaking with Rios and then worked to ensure the lawyer’s request wasn’t dismissed. He didn’t publicly disclose his communications with Rios to the other commissioners before the July vote.

“Any communications between attorney and commissioner were completely appropriate, commonplace and expected on a matter of such importance,” said Jason Kinney, a spokesman for Senate Democrats. “There’s no real story here beyond ensuring that the FPPC’s interpretation of the Political Reform Act is sound and impartial.”

Hatch, a Democrat and former lobbyist for the California Professional Firefighters, was appointed to the commission in March by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat.

Remke said in a statement that the commission is reviewing procedures to ensure the integrity of the commission is not questioned. Through a spokesman, Remke declined to comment on Hatch’s allegations.

“The FPPC will let the public record on this matter speak for itself,” Jay Wierenga, the agency’s spokesman, said.
Hatch’s communications look like a backroom deal even if there wasn’t one, said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor and chair of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. Failing to disclose conversations with an interested party can cause the public to distrust the propriety of decisions made by public institutions, she said.

“He didn’t call up a law professor. He called someone with skin in the game. He called the person who brought the motion,” Levinson said. “I think he absolutely should ask all these questions and he should feel confident in all his decisions, but do it on the record or tell someone you did it.”

Records provided by other commissioners do not show any private communications with Rios.

Republican commissioners Maria Audero and Allison Hayward also voted in favor of the change.
Commissioners are prohibited from communicating privately with a person facing fines or other enforcement actions but not with people, like Rios, requesting a change in the commission’s policy opinions “so long as issues of fairness and bias are considered,” according to a manual provided to commissioners.