The Orange County Tribune Oc. 12, 2022

Elvis Back in Hearts, Main St.

22nd Festival brought crowds and memories

Elvis has not left the building … or at least a spot in the hearts of his fans and admirers, including some who were not even alive when he was.

The 22nd annual Elvis Festival returned to Garden Grove’s historic Main Street on Sunday, and a large crowd turned out under sunny skies. Parking was prized for several blocks by noon around the event, which covered the street between Garden Grove Boulevard and Aca cia Parkway.

This year’s theme was “Follow That Dream,” and attendees fol lowed performances from a wide variety of Elvis Presley tribute artists with a variety of looks, styles and even ages.

nThere was food and Elvis memo rabilia for sale, a wide array of clas sic Cadillacs to admire and a group

of adorable animals – some “hound dogs” and some cats – to consider adopting.

The event is organized by Jill Lloyd and supported several spon sors, including the Garden Grove Downtown Business Association.

Police officers at local schools?

An agreement to provide a full-time police school resource officer for pub lic schools in Westmin ster tops the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Westminster City Council.

Before the council will

WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL

be a cooperative agree ment between the city and the Garden Grove Unified School District to provide an “SRO” to serve the campuses of La

Quinta High School and McGarvin Intemediate School.

Although they are locat ed in Westminster, they are within the boundaries of the GGUSD.

“Rails to Trails” Project Looks to Be Progressing

By Jim Tortolano Orange County Tribune

The idea of being able to lace up your shoes or hop on your bike to travel to the county seat of Santa Ana from Garden Grove without having to dodge cars, trucks and Amazon delivery vans is beginning to turn from a dream into a real possibility.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Garden Grove City Council, a presentation was made on the proposed “Rails to Trails” proj ect by Charles Larwood, transportation manager for the Orange County Transportation Authority,

that indi cated that the agen cy – and at least some of the fund ing for the enterprise – is strongly behind it.

“When completed, it would provide excellent active transportation ac cess between the two cit ies,” he said.

The “Rails to Trails,” as envisioned, would use the existing former Pa cific Electric right-of-way (as well as other proper ties) to create a separate

Woman, 72, fatally hit in a crosswalk

An elderly woman walk ing through a crosswalk in Westminster Monday morning was struck by a truck and fatally injured.

According to Sgt. Phu ong Pham of the WPD, the incident took place in the area of Hope Street and Bolsa Avenue.

Around 9:55 a.m., police were summoned to that location regarding a re port of a traffic collision. Arriving officer found an

unconscious 72-year-old Vietnamese woman who had sustained head trau ma.

WPD officers and Or ange County Fire Author ity paramedics adminis tered CPR in an effort to revive the woman, but she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A preliminary investiga tion indicates the truck

THERE WAS ONLY one Elvis, but plenty of Elvis tribute artists on Main Street in Garden Grove on Sunday.

Police officer in local schools

According to the staff report, the presence of a SRO “con tributes to a reduction in crime, gang activity, discipline issues, bullying abatement and an over all increase in safety.”

The annual cost is $214,000, of which 76 percent will paid by the GGUSD and the city the rest. It would add one sworn officer to the WPD.

Also on the agenda for the council is a special event per mit application to hold a memo rial ceremony for former South

Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem at Sid Goldstein Freedom Park on Sunday. Nov. 6.

Diem served as president of the Republic of (South) Vietnam from 1955 to 1963 when he was assassinated during a coup d’tat which led to a succession of mil itary governments until the 1967 election elevated Nguyen Van Thieu to the presidency.

The city council will meet in its chambers at 8200 Westmin ster Blvd. for a closed session at 6 p.m. and an open session at 7 p.m.

Woman struck in crosswalk

was making a left turn on Hope Street onto Bolsa Avenue when it struck the woman as she was walking from north to south in side a designated crosswalk.

It doesn’t appear that drugs or alcohol played a role in the in

cident. The name of the woman killed is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Anyone who may have wit nessed the accident is asked to call Officer Claire Tran of the WPD Traffic Division at (714) 548-3788.

Garden Grove City Council updated on “Rails to Trails”

bicycle and pedestrian road that would span from Raitt Street in Santa Ana northwest – crossing the Santa Ana River along an ex isting former P.E. rail bridge –all the way to Euclid Street in Gar den Grove, near the city’s down town/civic center area.

(The availability of that bridge is pending further approvals).

It’s called “Rails to Trails” because the “trail” would paral lel a large portion of the underconstruction OCStreetcar route, as well as connect to the Santa Ana Transportation Center rail center.

Already committed is $3 mil lion for preliminary tasks and a consultant is expected to be found by the end of 2022 to begin further work, including investigating how to cross the 10 street intersections along the route. That study is expected to take two years.

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 ex pressed 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.

From there, “we must find fund ing for design and construction,” said Larwood, but added that “there’s a lot of money available from the state and federal gov ernment.”

Visit us at: Orangecountytribune.com for latest news every day

E-paper replica of The Tribune is published every Wednesday and Saturday (with a few exceptions).

At ths scary time, just what am I afraid of?

To paraphrase Ray Bradbury, something weird this way comes.

We are well into October and just a few weeks from election day, so there are two reasons to be scared. The first is the holiday season and the wave of pop corn movies about unkillable serial murderers and animated perverse household objects that stalk you in your old scary two-story house with the basement you never go into until you hear …

You get the idea.

It’s Walk, Bike or Roll Day for school kids

The Garden Grove Po lice Department encour ages parents and students to join their classmates and walk, bike, or roll to class on Wednesday (Oct. 12).

Walk and Roll to School Day is celebrated an nually to highlight the benefits of exercise and practicing pedestrian and road safety with other students, families, and

caregivers.

“Walking to school is a great way to exercise on a daily basis and feel com fortable getting to and from school safely,” Gar den Grove Police Depart ment Police ChiefTom DaRé said.

“We hope this is a fun, rewarding experience for students and members of the community that shows how important it

is for everyone to be safe walking, biking, or roll ing.”

The GGPD offers tips for students who walk, bike, or roll to school:

• Plan your route on roads with sidewalks or paths away from traffic. If there are no sidewalks, walk as far away from cars as possible, facing traffic.

Continued on page 4

Retorts

Jim Tortolano

The second terrifying collec tion of thoughts is associated with the upcoming mid-term elections in which voters (and yes, non-voters) will choose which bunch of barely-qual ified legislators and officials will be celebrating on Nov. 9, and which will not.

Take that a step further and ruminate about the folks who think that other people’s behaviors are always in need of reform – through legislation or lecturing at the supermarket – while their own is as spotless as Stephen Hawkings’ algebra grades.

So, in that spirit, here is my little lecture about stuff more frightening than Frankenstein’s monster.

Scary Thought Number One: People who can’t or won’t use a turn signal, who leave their car engine running and the door unlocked “just for a moment” or who think a yellow traffic light always means “go real fast!” are allowed to vote, own firearms and buy fireworks.

Scary Thought Number Two: Folks who don’t know the difference between the Second Amend ment, the Second Commandment and Second Base arguing vehemently about politics or religion.

Scary Thought Number Three: People whose secular deity is the immortal “They.” As in “They ought to do thus-and-such.” There is no “they.” There is a complicated array of people, money, law, nature

THE OPIOID ABUSE EPIDEMIC HITS ORANGE COUNTY

A Tustin doctor has pleaded guilty to writing prescriptions for over 120,000 such pills in exchange for cash and insurance payments (Shutterstock)

OC doctor guilty in opioid scam

SANTA ANA (AP) –

An Orange County doc tor has pleaded guilty to writing prescriptions for more than 120,000 opi oid pills over a six-year span, including to an im paired driver who struck and killed a bicyclist, federal prosecutors said.

In his plea agreement, Dr. Dzung Ahn Pham of Tustin admitted distrib

uting the pills without a legitimate medical pur pose in exchange for cash and insurance payments.

He pleaded guilty Fri day to conspiracy to dis tribute controlled sub stances, it was reported.

Pham faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 6, 2023, the newspa per said.

From Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 17, 2018, Pham wrote prescriptions for around 53,000 Oxyco done pills, 68,000 hydro codone pills and 29,000 pills of amphetamine salts using 18 different patient names, according to his plea agreement.

Pham’s record of pre scribing large amounts

THIS KITTY isn’t even a black cat.

Walk, bike or roll safely to class, kids

Continued from page 3

• Use crosswalks, preferably at stop signs or signals. If there are unmarked crosswalks, cross at corners on streets with fewer lanes and lower speedlimits.

• Always look left-right-left be fore crossing the street and con tinue to scan for traffic as you cross the street.

• Watch for cars entering/leaving driveways or parking spaces.

• Always wear a helmet when riding. Ride in the same direc tion as traffic.

• Be aware of your surround ings. When walking, keep ear buds or headphone volume low enough so you can still hear around you.

Drivers should be extra care ful and anticipate more foot and bike traffic on the morning of Oct. 12, as well as be prepared to stop for school buses and children crossing the street.

Drivers should always watch their speed and slow down in school zones.

Schools are encouraged to reg ister at walkbiketoschool.org as

a way of tracking participation and showing support for active, healthy, and safe transportation.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the

California Office of Traffic Safety through the Na tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

OC doctor pleads guilty to opiod scam

Continued from page 3

of pills led a CVS pharmacy to stop accepting prescriptions from him when he couldn’t jus tify the number of pills patients were picking up, prosecutors said when charges were filed in 2018.

Pham conspired with Jennifer Thaoyen Nguyen, 51, a licensed pharmacist who also has agreed to enter a guilty plea for the same felony charge later this month, court records show.

Pham directed his patients to

Nguyen’s pharmacy to fill his prescriptions because he knew other pharmacies would not, ac cording to court documents.

A man who fatally struck an off-duty firefighter training on his bike for a triathlon told in vestigators he was on drugs prescribed by Pham, prosecu

tors said. Several prescription bottles with Pham’s name were found in the driver’s car.

Stephen Scarpa was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Costa Mesa fire Capt. Mike Kreza. Pham was not charged in the death.

Retorts: Not afraid of vampires or werewolves

Continued from page 3

and effort that go into any enterprise, and it’s often “you” who should do something, friends, and not put all the work on “They.”

Scary Thought Number

Four: Individuals who let their small children roam and romp through a busy parking lot or allow their untrained dogs to run off the leash in a well-used park. Your kid or mutt always come right back when you call, right? Right?

Scary Thought Number

Five: Eighty million eligible voters in the U.S. didn’t cast ballots in 2020, leaves the 67 percent who did. And that is considered a good turnout. More will stay home this year. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Jim Tortolano’s “Retorts” column usually alternates with “Usually Reliable Sources,” but he wanted to get this out in time for Halloween. Oh, and as they used to say in Chicago and Springfield, “vote early and often.”

Arts&Living

This Isn’t A Kids’ Puppet Show But “Avenue Q”at the Gem Theater is outstanding adult fare

By Thom deMartino Orange County Tribune

Be forewarned: this ain’t no kids’ show.

If “Sesame Street” was kin dergarten, consider “Avenue Q” college: complete with latenight parties, early morning hangovers, freshman mistakes, bohemian friends, money strug gles – and all the complex di lemmas and consequences that constitute modern adult life.

Recently opened at Garden Grove’s acclaimed Gem The ater, “Avenue Q” is distinctly reminiscent of a certain other puppet-populated thoroughfare, complete with a pair of “con

Stage Review

firmed bachelor” roommates, Rod and Nicky (Matthew Ran gel and Peter Crisafulli); friend ly local “persons of fur” Kate Monster (Cassidy Love) and Trekkie Monster (Crisafulli), no relation; the hedonistic, im pulsive and ill-advised Bad Idea Bears (Alexandra Kyte and Cri safulli); and the human tenants of Avenue Q, including the ev eryman Brian (Ryan Addison), bombastic therapist (and Brian’s fiance) Christmas Eve (Joy Ar zaga) and the building superin tendent, former television child star Gary Coleman (Tickwanya

Jones).

Along comes fresh-faced col lege graduate Princeton (Ran gel), striking out in the world and apartment hunting, thrilled to find affordable lodging on this very street (as well as meet ing the lovely Ms. Monster.)

The audience is treated to the young man’s real-world strug gles, dreams and (mis)adven tures, and those of his neighbors, too -- like Kate’s aspiration to build a school for monsters, or Rod’s desperate avoidance of discovering his own sexual pro clivities.

The road to adulthood is rid dled with potholes and pitfalls, and nothing seems simple when

you’re a grown-up. Will the young Princeton find his way -and ultimately, his purpose?

One might presume that going from the Gem’s last production of “Spongebob” to “Avenue Q” is bounding from one end of the animated/puppetry spectrum to the other, but not so: both have valuable lessons in friendship and finding yourself.

But in “Q”, those lessons are not necessarily “kid-friendly”: some of the complex topics in clude homelessness, racism, sexual identity, and more.

WITH BAD Idea Bears is Matthew Rangel as Princeton, Alexandra Kyte as a Bad Idea Bear and behind Rangel is Peter Crisafulli as another Bad Idea Bear in “Avenue Q” now on stage at the Gem Theater in Garden Grove.

“Avenue Q” play is for (smart) adults only

Considering the scope of the show, the fact that it is no more than seven or so actors on stage performing multiple roles is quite the feat.

Viewers are treated to virtually seamless transitions between characters: an actor walks through a door playing one puppet character, and within an instant is out an adjacent door, complete with new puppet and personality.

(A special treat is watching the actors on stage subtly voic ing two characters at once, as Crisafulli, Love and Rangel do on multiple occasions through out the show.) With this new est production, the audience is treated to a number of fresh new talents, such as Arzaga, Jones, Kyte and Love -- tremendous new additions to the illustrious acting troupe.

With “Avenue Q”, director Damien Lorton and the entire cast and crew has brought some thing special and unusual to the

Gem, reminiscent of childhood, yet comfortably adult. Whereas Sesame Street taught life les sons at an earlier, arguably sim pler age in our lives, “Avenue Q” brings to mind those lessons while teaching us more about the modern world and its chal lenges. Nothing is ever quite as clean cut as it is on the Sesame Street we grew up with, but nei ther is life.

It’s an outstanding endeavor, due in no small part to the con siderable talents of the cast and how deftly they perform in sync with their fuzzy counterparts (the Gem’s One More Produc tions troupe actually has a num ber of behind-the-scenes looks leading up to the show on their Instagram, @ompatthegem.)

Of special note is a certain Mr. Rangel: while still relatively new to the OMP family, he’s made quite the impression with his range in the last few Gem productions: but with his re markably strong performances playing multiple characters in

“Q”, it really feels like he comes into his own, and looks to be having a hysterical amount of fun with his roles to boot (his musical number as Rod in “My Girlfriend Who Lives In Can ada” will have viewers rolling with laughter.) There’s obvious ly a lot of love and effort poured into the show by the entire cast and crew, and it pays off.

An offbeat, charming, startling, and wonderfully over-the-top piece, “Avenue Q” is a fantas tic, funny and fulfilling show, and potentially a great adult date

night... just be sure and leave the kids at home, okay?

“Avenue Q”, Matthew Ran gel, Cassidy Love and Peter Crisafulli star in this MA-rated adult take-off on Sesame Street, but with equally valuable life les sons. Now playing through Oct. 23 at The Gem Theater, 12852 Main Street, Garden Grove, CA, 92840. Call 714-741-9550 x221 or e-mail boxoffice@onemore productions.com for ticketing information. Mature language and topics, not for children.

Dodgers vs. SD Padres

Continued from page 8

“They’re not going to give up, you saw that tonight,” said Turn er. “It’s not going to be easy.”

Dodger starter Julio Urias (10) worked four good innings, but was tagged for three runs in the fifth, including a home run by Will Myers. The bullpen took over after that and shut out the Padres the rest of the way.

Game Two is Wednesday (to night) in Petco Park in San Di ego with an 8:37 p.m. start.

in local news for West Orange County and beyond

The

Now Wednesday and Saturday.

in The Orange County Tribune (print and website). You can reach many thousands of customers for pennies.

Jim at (714) 4581860 for details.

RYAN ADDISON is Brian while Matthew Rangel is Princeton.

McVay: Stafford’s not the Rams’ problem

games.

Stafford completed 28 of 42 passes for 308 yards, but with the Rams having their fifth different offensive line combination in as many games, he was pressured on 23 of 47 dropbacks. That’s the second-most pressures the Rams have allowed since Mc

Vay became coach in 2017, and the 48.9% pressure rate is the highest.

Stafford was pressured from the first snap. On the third play, he was sacked by Dorance Arm strong, leading to a fumble that DeMarcus Lawrence returned 19 yards for a touchdown and 6-0 Dallas lead. Stafford was pressured 28 times the Rams’ first three games but 43 times in losses to San Francisco and Dallas.

“We’ve got to be able to figure it out, whether it’s guys that are

playing right now, or whether we need to figure out some other options,’’ McVay said. “But it’s not good enough, and it’s not exclusive to one player or posi tion. There are some things that consistently are glaring issues for us that are preventing us a chance to be able to operate at a level that you guys have seen from us.”

When asked if the constant turnover on the line is affecting him, Stafford said the bigger im pact is on the line itself because different combinations of play ers can struggle with combina tion blocks and nonverbal com munication.

“In the NFL, the margins for victory are really small. And our margins are really, really small at this moment,” Stafford said. Stafford did connect on a 75yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp to put the Rams up 10-9 with 9:31 remaining in the sec ond quarter, but that was the last time they scored even though they drove into Dallas terri tory on four of their final seven drives.

“Everybody’s picking up the slack up front. We just need to take a little more accountabil

ity,” left tackle Joe Noteboom said.

Aside from the pass protection, the Rams need more consistent production in the run game. Cam Akers had 41 yards on eight carries in the first quarter and went backward from there, with minus-8 yards on five car ries.

“I don’t think they made any adjustments. I think we made a few adjustments. There was nothing they did to stop us,” Ak ers said.

After two straight weeks of fac ing difficult defenses, the Rams host Carolina (1-4) next Sunday before their bye week.

Stafford did not want to com pare his team’s struggles to last November, when the Rams lost three straight games. It’s obvi ous things need to turn around quickly as Los Angeles is under .500 for only the second time in McVay’s tenure.

“I don’t like to compare. I don’t want to sit there and think about things that have happened last year, 10 years ago, whatever it is,” Stafford said. “Just do ev erything I can to be here and now.”

High school football preview

Continued from page 8

Big 4 League Katella (2-5) at Marina (1-6)

Garden Grove League

Loara (3-4, 1-1) at Santiago (52, 1-1)

Empire League

Crean Lutheran (7-0, 2-0) at Pa cifica (3-4, 1-1).

FRIDAY

Sunset League

Fountain Valley (4-3, 0-2) at Newport Harbor (4-3, 0-2) Corona del Mar (4-3, 1-1) at Huntington Beach (5-2, 1-1)

Pac 4 League

Ocean View (1-6) at Westmin ster (7-0)

Big 4 Garden Grove at Segerstrom (16)

Garden Grove League

Bolsa Grande (4-3, 1-1) at Los Amigos (5-2, 1-1) Rancho Alamitos (7-0, 2-0) at La Quinta (1-6, 0-2).

Orange League

Century (0-7, 0-2) at Magnolia (1-7, 0-2)

Orange Coast League Orange (5-2, 3-0) at Estancia (34, 1-2)

SATURDAY

Orange League Savanna (0-7, 2-0) at Western (6-1, 2-0)

Orange County Tribune’s e-paper: Wednesdays, and Saturdays. For a free subscription via e-mail, please send us a request to orangecountytribune@gmail.com.

TheSportsPage

Dodgers start journey with win over Padres

By David Arthur Orange County Tribune

If the San Diego Padres had any idea Tuesday night they could ambush an overconfident Los Angeles Dodgers team in the first game of their National League Division Series, they were quickly disappointed.

The Blue Crew scored three runs in the first in ning and two more in the

Now, the Stretch Run In Prep Football Races

Big 4 and Pac 4 league seasons kick off, too

Thanks to the “competi tive equity” policy that took place a few years ago in high school sports, there’s been lot of shuf fling of leagues.

One consequence of that is the formation of some four-team leagues for football. That means that those teams play seven pre-league games and three in league action. For the two local leagues – Big 4 and Pac 4 – the “real” season starts this week. However, it’s tempting to think of those races as being already de cided.

The Big 4 group appears to be dominated by Gar den Grove (a co-champ from last year) which has won six of seven games, and no other league squad has a winning record; in deed none has won more than two so far.

The Pac 4 bunch looks like Westminster (7-0) and three followers. Only Laguna Beach (4-3) has

won more than one game.

Of course, there’s more at stake than just a cham pionship plaque. Fourteam leagues will get two CIF-SS playoff berths, just as s six-team group ings will get three. As for the rest of the West Orange County area, the “big game” is Edison (7-0, 2-0) hosting Los Alamitos (5-2, 2-0) for the Sunset League title on Thursday. The Char gers are ranked fourth in Orange County and the

Griffins second.

In the Garden Grove League, the race for a playoff berth is wide open. Four of six teams have 1-1 league records and some seem evenly matched.

Bolsa Grande (4-3, 1-1) nearly beat Rancho Alamitos (7-0, 2-0) last week and and so the most interesting matchup this week could be the Mata dors at Los Amigos (5-2, 1-1) at Monsoor Stadium on Friday.

Here’s the schedule for this week’s area high school football games. As always, times, days, locations, etc. are subject to change without notice so check with the school. Games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

THURSDAY

Sunset League

Los Alamitos at Edison

third and went on to a 5-3 win at Dodger Stadium.

However, if the Dodger fans had the idea that the visitors would go quietly, they were disappointed, too.

Trea Turner led off the hit parade with a home run in the first inning and later scored on a Will Smith double in the third. But he saw the challenge clearly.

BEST OF FIVE

Dodgers 5, Padres 3

Padres at Dodgers

Dodgers at

McVay: Stafford isn’t the problem for Rams

By Joe Reedy AP Sports Writer

INGLEWOOD (AP) –

Sean McVay isn’t con cerned about the way Matthew Stafford is leading the Los Angeles Rams’ offense.

It’s the rest of the unit he’s worried about.

“I love Matthew Staf ford. He is competing and doing everything in his power for this team. He needs some help. And we got to be able to help him,’’ McVay said af ter the Rams’ 22-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, which dropped the Super Bowl champions to 2-3.

This Week in Area Football

• USC Trojans (6-0): Saturday at Utah (4-2)

• UCLA Bruins (6-0): are idle

• Los Angeles Rams (2-3): Sunday host Carolina Panthers (1-4)

• Los Angeles Char gers (3-2): Monday hosts Denver Broncos (2-3)

It’s only the third time since 2000 a defending champion has posted a losing record through five

MATT STAFFORD (Rams