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Printed in Garden Grove, California n orangecountytribune.com n Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022 n orangecountytribune@gmail.com
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT ACROSS ORANGE COUNTY
Seek Suspect In Murder of An HB Man Public’s help is asked in shooting in Westminster
Pasta, play and police “National Night Out” is an annual event across the U.S. connecting the general public with public safety agencies in an informal manner to provide information and entertainment. They were held on Tuesday evening across Orange County, including in Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster. The event in Westminster was staged in the Pavilion Plaza on Beach Boulevard, just north of Heil Avenue. In addition to vehicles, exhibits and a chance to converse with local firefighters and police officers, the evening was attended by other agencies including the Westminster School District and Seal Beach Police Department. Food was available, including pasta dishes (above) and games were played, including a miniature basketball shoot (at right). Orange County Tribune photos.
The public’s help is being asked in helping to apprehend a suspect wanted in connection with a fatal shooting of a man in Westminster. According to Commander Kevin MacCormack of the WPD, the victim is Donald Joshua Ratzlaff, 41, of Huntington Beach. The incident took place around 4:10 a.m. on Sunday. Westminster police officers were dispatched to a report of shots fired in
the rear parking lot of an apartment complex in the 15200 block of Magnolia Street. That’s between Bolsa Avenue and Bishop Place. Police were told there had been an argument prior to the shots being fired and the people involved left in a white van. At 4:30 a.m., Fountain Valley police responded to the ARCO gas station at 10975 Edinger Ave. in Fountain Valley regarding a gunshot victim inside a white van. The victim was found dead in the van from an apparent gunshot wound; the driver of the van had fled before police arrived. Continued on page 2
New cases showing decline in Orange Co. Tuesday’s report on the coronavirus pandemic in Orange County showed sharp drops in confirmed new cases and hospitalizations. The county health care agency’s statistics for the four-day period of July 29 to Aug. 1 showed 3,708 new cases, That’s a daily average of 927, compared to the previous count on Friday of 3,790, which
averages to 1,263. Hospitalizations declined from 338 to 295. H o w e v e r, deaths increased from eight to 11, and the use of intensive care units to treat COVID-19 patients stayed steady at 49, To date, Orange County has had 640,721 confirmed cases, of which 604,138 are considered Continued on page 2
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2 WEDNESDAY, AUG. 3, 2022/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE
New cases showing decline Times is reporting that – over recovered. The death total is a two-week period – new cases are down 2 percent, but hospital7,214. Nationally, The New York izations have risen by 4 percent and deaths by 3 percent. In California, Los Angeles Times reports a 25 percent decline in new cases over a similar period – but deaths have risen 24 percent. Continued from page 1
Seek suspect in homicide Continued from page 1
WPD detectives are continuing their investigation in hopes of turning up new evidence and witnesses, and urge anyone who may have witnessed the crime, or who has other relevant information, to call Detective M. Pierson of the WPD at (714) 548-3759.
JIm Tortolano Editor and Publisher Marilyn Lewis Tortolano General Manager The Orange County Tribune is published on Wednesdays and Saturdays with some exceptions. Address is 9402 Luders Ave., Garden Grove, 92844. E-mail is orangecountytribune@gmail. com. Website is: www.orangecountytribune.com. Phone: (714) 458-1860. Established Aug. 6, 2016. All opinions expressed in The Tribune, unless otherwise stated, are those of the individual writer or artist and not necessarily those of The Tribune. A member of The Associated Press, and Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce.
Orange County Tribune’s electronic paper is now published on Wednesdays and Saturdays. And it’s free!
ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY, AUG. 3, 2022 3
News&Views
$1 million to pay cost of H. Beach oil spill ONLINE DAILY, “PRINT” TWICE A WEEK The Tribune is undergoing a growth spurt (Wikipedia).
Happy Birthday to the OC Tribune This week marks the six-year anniversary of the debut of The Orange County Tribune, the news operation serving the communities of Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster. Changing reading habits, business pressures and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have hammered the business of journalism and created in many Jim Tortolano areas what’s called a “news desert.” There are very few true news organizations dedicated to covering our cities, and that means less oversight of government and less recognition of the accomplishments of the good and interesting people of our communities. So, it was into this “news desert” that – in August 2016 we opened our lemonade – pardon, orange-ade – stand to provide something refreshing to people who want to know what’s going on in their cities, and those nearby. The Tribune is the spiritual descendent of the Garden Grove Journal, published from September 1983 to March 2016. We operated the GGJ until we sold it to The Orange County Register in 2013. The less said the better about what followed, except “they” closed the Journal in March and we launched The Tribune in August. We started as an online-only operation with no advertising and no income other than a sense of satisfaction. But as our readership grew we started to attract advertising, not only from local businesses but also from national marketing enterprises. Some of our more traditional readers of the old
Retorts
Continued on page 4
HUNTINGTON BEACH (AP) – The owner of an underwater oil pipeline that spilled some 25,000 gallons of crude into the ocean off Southern California last year will pay nearly $1 million in cleanup costs. The Orange County Board of Supervisors last week agreed to accept a proposed claim settlement with Amplify Energy Corp. over the costs of dealing with last October's spill off of Huntington Beach. The ruptured pipeline spilled the oil, equal to about 94,600 liters, about 4 miles offshore. While less severe than initially feared, the spill shuttered beaches for a week and fisheries for more than a month, oiled birds and threatened wetlands that
OIL IN THE WATER Aerial view of Huntington Beach Pier area after the October 2021 oil spill (HB photo)
Orange County communities have been striving to restore. Investigators believe the San Pedro Bay Pipeline that ferried crude from offshore oil platforms to the coast was weakened when a cargo ship's anchor snagged it in high winds in January 2021,
Three qualify in GG city council elections Three candidates have qualified for the November general election for Garden Grove City Council. According to the city clerk’s office, they are George Brietigam, the incumbent District 1 council member, James Webb, a candidate for District 3, and Joe Dovinh, a candidate for District 4. People who have taken out nomination papers but not returned completed forms are: • Steve Jones, incumbent mayor • For District 3: Andrew Jefferson Nguyen, Gia Le Nguyen Laurie
Merrick and Don Taylor • For District 4: Trung Van Ta, Duy Nguyen and Joe Divinh. The deadline for returning completed nomination papers is Friday, Aug. 12. Incumbent District 3 Councilmember Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen is seeking the 70th State Assembly District seat and Phat Bui, the incumbent District 4 Councilmember, is “termed out” and not eligible to run for reelection this cycle.
months before it ultimately ruptured Oct. 1 Houston-based Amplify Energy sued two container ship operators and an organization that helps oversee marine traffic, saying they failed to prevent the spill. The suit alleges that in January 2021 two ships dragged their anchors across the pipeline. The $956,352 settlement with Orange County includes about $238,000 for the county Public Works Department, which built sand berms and placed booms to prevent oil from polluting sensitive wetlands, the Orange County Register reported. Money also will go to the county's health agency, the Sheriff's Department that operates the Harbor Patrol, and reimburse the county for legal costs and the hiring of contractors and environmental consultants. Meanwhile, Amplify and two subsidiaries were indicted by a federal grand jury last year on a misdemeanor count of illegally discharging oil. The indictment alleges Continued on page 4
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The Tribune celebrates its sixth year Continued from page 3
Journal just couldn’t get used to reading the web-based posts on a computer screen, so in December we launched an “epaper” edition, which is basically a electronic replica of a more familiar newspaper format, with pages to turn and “papers” to download. We liked that so much that in June we added another day of “printing,” so we now have e-papers on Wednesday and Saturday (with some exceptions). There’s so much going on of interest to our readers that we now are members of The Associated Press, allowing us to provide additional coverage on a wide variety of topics. How is all that working out? So far in 2022, we’ve had 544,114 views (as of Tuesday morning) and 416,988 visitors). We are on a pace to top 1 million views this year and close to 800,000 visitors. We feel that there’s more room
to grow and more growth to bring sustenance to this “news desert.” So, thank you for reading and supporting our modest – but rising – enterprise of non-partisan coverage of news, arts, opinion and sports for this West Orange
County area. To our readers: If you’d like a free subscription to the e-paper version of The Tribune, send us an e-mail to orangecountytribune@gmail.com and we’ll get it started.
$1 million for HB oil spill Continued from page 3
that fatigued workers failed to properly act when repeated alarms signaled an offshore pipeline rupture and continued operating the pipeline for hours. Amplify has said company workers on and offshore believed they were responding to false alarms from a malfunctioning system.
The Orange County Tribune’s electronic paper is now published on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY, AUG. 3, 2022 5
Arts&Living
THESE CLEVER HOUNDS BAIL OUT THEIR “MASTERS” “DC’s League of Super-Pets” has a welcome sense of humor about itself (Amazon)
“Super-Pets” has some comic bite Sense of humor helps this flick get off ground By Lindsey Bahr AP Film Writer
DC films have a reputation for being a little too self-serious. They’ve made significant strides to chip away at that dark and dour image in recent years, but it lingers even with things like “The LEGO Batman Movie.” Sometimes it’s even easy to forget that when it comes down to it, superheroes are for kids. This makes “DC League of Super-Pets,” a straightforward cartoon with a sense of humor about itself and an all-star voice cast, somewhat refreshing. It also could be viewed as a shameless early advertisement to get impressionable young minds hooked on the Justice
Movie Review League so that several years from now when it’s inevitably rebooted, they’ll have a youthful, built-in audience. But we’ll take the charitable route here considering it does come from director Jared Stern and his “LEGO Batman” cowriter John Whittington, who have managed to find joy and humor within cynical toy-hawking, fan-recruiting constructs. After all, this is a film that gives us Kevin Hart as a shelter pup, Marc Maron as Lex Luthor, Kate McKinnon as a murderous guinea pig named Lulu, Natasha Lyonne as an ancient, libidinous turtle named Merton and Keanu Reeves as Batman. It’s impossible to top Will Arnett as the caped crusader, but Reeves makes a good case for himself delivering lines like “Batman works alone. Except for Gordon. And Alfred...
and whoever Morgan Freeman played’’ in a way only he could. Wearing its heart on its sleeve, “DC League of Super-Pets’’ opens on the planet Krypton where a cherubic baby Kal-El is being sent to earth. But he’s not alone. A puppy named Krypto (Dwane Johnson) goes along for the ride and signs up to be the future Superman’s (John Krasinski) lifelong watcher and crimefighting pal. Krypto takes his mission very seriously. In his eyes, he’s not just Superman’s best friend, he’s his only friend and things start to get a little tense when Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde) enters the picture. In his jealous rage one night (eating ice cream, watching “The Great British Bake Off’’ and listening to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”), Krypto doesn’t notice that Superman is in distress. His beloved owner is captured along with the rest of the Justice League by Lulu the
Good: HHH guinea pig. It is McKinnon who really makes the movie as Lulu, a displaced Lex Luthor science experiment who has been biding her time in an animal shelter, building a device to wield the powers of orange kryptonite waiting for the right moment to strike at the Justice League. Her compatriots in the shelter are Hart’s Ace, a pig named PB (Vanessa Bayer), a squirrel Chip (Diego Luna) and Lyonne’s Merton, none of whom are ever selected for adoption (it’s always a kitten on their first day). But at least they get their freedom when Lulu’s plan works and suddenly they all have superpowers. You can guess what happens from there. Continued on page 6
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What’s rolling on The Stream this week By The Associated Press
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on televison streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES • Ron Howard is a master at the ripped-from-the-headlines drama and this time takes on the riveting story of the 2018 rescue of a boys’ soccer team from the Tham Luang cave in the new film “Thirteen Lives,’’ coming to Prime Video on Friday, Colin
“DC League of Super-Pets” Continued from page 5
The visuals, though, are less inspired. These CG characters, especially the Justice League, are smooth and dull creatures, computer generated to the point of blandness. Wonder Woman in particular even veers into uncanny Cocomelon territory with her minimally expressive face and unfocused eyes. Perhaps the superheroes were an afterthought to their animal counterparts. Johnson and Hart seem to have fun, too, but a fair amount of
their charm as a comedic duo is lost without their physical presence – not that the audience of kids will know this or care. Parents might just be wishing they were watching this cast in liveaction instead. “DC League of Super-Pets,” a Warner Bros. release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “action, mild violence, language and rude humor.’’ Running time: 106 minutes. MPA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.
Farrell and Viggo Mortensen play the English cave divers who travel to Thailand to help with the impossible rescue mission. The film takes care to present a holistic picture of all the disparate components that came together to make the rescue successful, including the help of the Thai Navy Seals, cave and water experts and nearby farmers. As in “Apollo 13,’’ it hardly matters that we already know the ending: Howard makes it a suspenseful, thrilling ride. • Rebecca Hall plays a single mother to a teenage daughter whose busy life is upended when a figure from her past, played by Tim Roth, returns in “Resurrection’’ carrying with him the “horrors of her past.’’ The film from writer-director Andrew Seman made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will be available to rent on Friday from IFC. As with Hall’s unsettling turn in the “The Night House,’’ her performance in this diabolical
Advertise in The Orange County Tribune (print and website). You can reach many thousands of customers for pennies. Call Jim at (714) 4581860 for details. OCT: Now Wednesday and Saturday.
The Stream psychological thriller promises to burrow deep in your psyche. – AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr MUSIC • Has it really been five years since Calvin Harris released his awesome “Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1’’? It has, but now it’s time to celebrate: Vol. 2 drops this week. You’ve likely already heard “Potion’’ with Dua Lipa and Young Thug and the list of contributors on ``Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2’’ is staggering: 21 Savage, Stefflon Don, Chloe, Charlie Puth, Pusha T, Shenseea, Tinashe, Normani, Lil Durk, Halsey, Offset, 6lack, Justin Timberlake, Coi Leray, Busta Rhymes, Donae’O, Latto, Pharrell, Swae Lee, Jorja Smith and Snoop Dogg. One disco throwback before the Friday release is “Stay With Me,’’ which has Timberlake, Halsey and Pharrell teaming up. TELEVISION • Straight out of San Diego’s Comic-Con, here comes “The Sandman.’’ Neil Gaiman, who wrote the acclaimed series of graphic novels published by DC Comics, developed and is executive producer for the 10-episode series debuting Friday on Netflix. Tom Sturridge plays the title character, who’s dreamcontrol central for everyone until he’s captured and imprisoned for a century and then some. His mission: to travel across worlds and time to repair the damage caused by falling down on the job. The sprawling and eclectic cast includes Boyd Holbrook, Patton Oswalt, Jenna Coleman, David Thewlis, Stephen Fry, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Joely Richardson. • As the title suggests, the fourpart docuseries “My Life as a Rolling Stone’’ takes an individual approach to band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and the late Charlie Watts. Each is the subject of an hourlong film that relies on new and archive interviews and previously unseen footage to create “intimate’’ portraits of the artists.
ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY,AUG. 3, 2022 7
Mack and Bosa: an offensive line’s nightmare? Continued from page 8
offseason drills and minicamp. A benefit for Mack is that Chargers coach Brandon Staley was the linebacker coach in Chicago in 2018. So getting acclimated shouldn’t take that long. “Coming in and learning a new defense, there are some learning curves. There are some things, but ultimately it’s about playing
fast and doing what we get paid to do,” Mack said. Bosa and Mack have some complementary playing styles, but the way they rush the passer is different. While most pass rushers rely on speed, then power, Bosa is the opposite. He is also one of the best pass rushers when it comes to using his hands. Mack begins with a series of speed rushes and then uses his long arms to keep opposing offensive linemen off balance to gain an advantage. Bosa – who had 10 1/2 sacks and a league-leading 7 1/2 strip sacks last season – said he hasn’t
watched much film with Mack yet, but that will change. “I think sometimes those are the best people you can learn from because it’s a different feel and they see things that you don’t see. They use technique that maybe you haven’t learned or haven’t used before,” Bosa said. “We both do similar things here and there, but we definitely have different styles and we’ve just been practicing and learning from each other. I try to teach him and the young guys as much as I can, but at the same time, I just try to watch him and learn what I can just from watching him.” The acquisition of Mack and signing of cornerback J.C. Jackson were the major moves made by the Chargers as they try to retool a defense that was 23rd overall last season and near the bottom in key categories, including stopping the run, getting off the field on third down and points allowed in the second half and overtime.
The Chargers were 9-8 last season but defensive struggles were one reason they missed the playoffs for the third straight year. New defensive linemen Sebastian Jones-Day and Morgan Fox have also played for Staley. Jones-Day and Fox were with the Rams in 2020 when Staley was the defensive coordinator. It’s a major reason why Bosa thinks the acclimation period won’t be a long one. Before opening against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 12, the Chargers offensive line will have to go against Bosa and Mack, which offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi thinks will serve his unit well in preparing for the season. “I think it’ll be great for the development of our tackles and our tight ends to have to block those guys because it’s going to be an all-day affair when you come out here versus those guys,” Lombardi said. “I think it’ll help us get ready for the monsters we’re going to have to block come the season.”
Angels defeat A’s, 3-1 Continued from page 8
hits and three walks to improve their record to 44-59. That was enough offense for starter Jose Suarez (3-4) to get the win. He worked five innings, giving up five hits and one earned run. He struck out five and walked two. David Fletcher gave the Angels
an early lead with a leadoff solo home run in bottom of the fifth. The Halos added runs in the second and fourth innings. The series with the A’s (3966) continues Wednesday with Shohei Ohtani (9-6) making the start for the home team. Game time is 6:38 p.m.
Dodgers, fans, lost Vin Scully Continued from page 8
Dodgers finished with their 70th win of the season. The Giants fell to 51-53. The teams will play again on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m.
The Orange County Tribune’s electronic paper is now published on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
8 WEDNESDAY, AUG. 3, 2022/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE
TheSportsPage
New Faces Charge Up This Defense Mack and Bosa make LAD pass rush a real force By Joe Reedy AP Sports Writer
COSTA MESA (AP) – Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack began to get acquainted during the final three weeks of the Los Angeles Chargers’ offseason program. The process of trying to live up to expectations for what could be one of the league’s best passrushing duos begins to ramp up with training camp. Both players were getting up to speed Thursday as the Chargers had their second practice. On a defense that will likely see six new starters, the pairing of Bosa and Mack will be one of the most notable defensive stories. “Me and Khalil, I feel like we’re definitely going to have a close bond by the end of this year,” said Bosa, who is going into this seventh season with the Bolts. “We’re kind of together all practice talking football the whole time. We have complementary styles, I think. We rush quite differently, so we can both learn a lot from each other.”
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN’S NIGHTMARE? The addition of Khalil Mack (above) and Joey Bosa (right) have given the Los Angeles Chargers’ pass rush a whole new dimension (Los Angeles Chargers photos ). Bosa has 58 career sacks since entering the league in 2016, which is sixth over that span, and is third with 250 quarterback pressures. Mack is second with 256 pressures and seventh with 57 1/2 sacks. Mack had six sacks in seven games with Chicago last season but was sidelined the rest of the
season with a foot injury. He was traded during the offseason after the Bears changed their front office and coaching staffs. Mack, a nine-year league veteran, has been able to go full speed the first two days after rehabbing his foot during the Continued on page 7
Dodgers win game, but lose a legend with Scully’s death By David Arthur Orange County Tribune
On the field Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers posted a 9-5 win over the San Francisco Giants in the Bay Area. But they suffered an historic loss with the news that legendary radio and TV announcer Vin Scully had passed away at the age of 94. “We have lost an icon,” said Dodger president and CEO Stan
Kasten. Scully, who spent 67 years with the Dodgers, was of the last remaining links between the team’s tenure in Brooklyn and its present reign in Los Angeles. Back on the field, Mookie Betts had three hits – including a home run, his 24th of the season – and three RBIs. The Blue Crew built a 6-0 lead through three and one-half innings, but the Giants made a game of it with five runs in the botton of the fifth.
Angels put A’s in their place By Pete Zarustica Orange County Tribune
A three-run rally in the eighth re-opened the lead and the Continued on page 7
Thanks heavens for the Oakland Athletics. Hosting the A’s, the fifth place team in the American League West, the fourth place Los Angeles Angels got a welcome 3-1 victory on Tuesday night in Anaheim. The Halos managed to manufacture three runs out of seven Continued on page 7