The Orange County Tribune Oct. 29, 2022

New priorities in plan for spending city’s ARPA funds

By Amir Ghani Orange County Tribune

An amended American Rescue Plan Act proposal was passed by the West minster City Council with a vote of 5-0 at its meet ing on Wednesday.

The budget of the ARPA funding has now been in creased by $17,348,519 and an additional $150,000 has been allo cated towards food secu rity programs.

This comes after the council asked for the act

to be amended by city staff at the city council meeting on Sept. 28, be cause of an “urgent need” to use some of the money to upgrade the city’s cy bersecurity infrastructure and emergency service computer aided commu nication systems.

ARPA funds were ap proved by Congress to help cities, counties and states recover financially from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The staff report outlined

still on the decline

The arc of statistics on new coronavirus cases in Orange County continues to bend toward fewer in fections.

Thursday’s weekly report from the county health care agency showed 1,136 cases, down from 1,427 last week and 1,495 in the first month of October.

However, the number of related deaths jumped from seven last week to 23. That’s a repeat of the earlier up-and-down pat tern in fatalities.

Hospitalizations are up

Saturday: 77/57 fog, sun Sunday: 79/57 sunny Monday: 78/60 sunny Tuesday: 70/57 fog, clouds

Kidnap Suspects Held; Victims Were Beaten

catches man, woman; rescues kids

By Jim Tortolano Orange County Tribune

A home invasion and kidnapping Thursday in Westminster ended with the arrest of two suspects and rescue of two chil dren.

According to Sgt. Ed die Esqueda of the WPD, Bich Dao Vao (also known as Michelle Rodriguez), 30, of Westminster and Michael Alexander Rodri guez, 26, of Garden Grove are being held in Orange County Jail and face charges of kidnapping, as

sault with a firearm, rob bery, false imprisonment, child endangerment and being a felon in posses sion of a firearm.

At around 2:37 a.m., Westminster police were dispatched to the 14300 block of Pine Street (near Westminster High School)

BICH DAO VO

regarding a report of a kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. Arriving officers found a man and woman bleed ing from head injuries. They told police that two persons, one armed with a handgun, forced their way

MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ

THE VEHICLE THAT POLICE SAY WAS USED TO MOVE VICTIMS Westminster woman and Garden Grove man arrested by WPD officers (WPD photos)

Two suspects arrested for kidnap, robbery; two victims were beaten

Continued

into the home and demanded money.

A 14-year-old girl and a 6-month old baby were also in the home. The male suspect allegedly pistol-whipped both adult vic tims when there was no money found. The victims – at gun point – were then forced into a van parked outside and driven to a hotel in Costa Mesa.

There the suspects, according to police, threatened to kill the victims if they did not get mon ey, but the two victims were able to escape the room, leaving the children behind.

From there, they returned to the

home on Pine Street and called 911.

With the help of the Costa Mesa Police Department, the children were found uninjured inside the hotel room. WPD patrol officers spotted the suspect van in the area of Goldenwest Street and Westminster Boulevard, stopped the vehicle and took the suspects into custody.

Inside the van police found a loaded .40-caliber handgun and a loaded AK-47 style rifle. Ro driguez and Vo – who is related to the adult female victim – were taken to jail.

The investigation is ongoing and WPD detectives urge any

New priorities on spending ARPA cash from Uncle Sam

Continued

that the cuts to be made will ef fect a crime prevention program, which will suffer a $400,000 de crease, the cut of an emergency center refurbishment, a $75,000 decrease, which was moved into a separate police upgrade proj ect, and a BeWell Community Outreach Services Contract, a $225,000 decrease.

There will be an increase in essential worker pay, with a to tal of $525,000 going towards premium pay for City of West minster employees. A total of $4.3 million will also be going towards the improvements of ball fields at public parks and towards an addition of five play grounds at different parks.

An unallocated balance of $350,000 was left over after the revisions made by city staff.

Coronavirus

modestly from 116 last week to 118 this week. That’s still lower than 133 in the month’s first week.

The use of intensive care units used to treat COVID-19 patients rose from 11 to 14.

“Is there any area we can im prove? Police? I want to dedi cate that funding. The police department really needs more,” said Mayor Tri Ta before noting the quick action Westminster police took during the recent gun scare at Westminster High School.

“There’s always going to be a need [for police funding]... wishlists can grow and grow... our parks also need very much help,” said Vice Mayor Carlos Manzo.

Councilmember Chi Charlie Nguyen asked about the possi bility of using some of the ex cess money towards food secu rity for residents.

“We can definitely add more to food resilience programs … but it does take a lot of effort for staff to do that. It would be a consideration,” said Erin Backs, Westminster’s finance director.

“The reality is you don’t have to make a decision on that $350,000 right now,” said City Manager Christine Cordon, “It would be beneficial for us to take a look at what needs more money or less money.”

“For now let’s not get excited and allocate at another time,” said Manzo.

one with more information to contact the department’s Major Crimes Unit at (714) 548-3773.

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.

Our website is www.orangecountytri bune.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.

Member: Associated Press, Garden Grove Downtown Business Assn.and the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce.

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News&Views

HBPD says “buckle up” to save lives

The Huntington Beach Po lice Department has received a $52,353.00 grant from the Cali fornia Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to educate parents and caregivers in underserved com munities on how to properly in stall and use child safety seats.

“The goal of this program is to significantly reduce death and injury to children riding in cars and trucks,” HBPD Sgt. Mike Thomas said. “Eliminating the financial burden for low-income families helps every child in our community ride safely.”

Funds will be used for various community outreach events, education classes, distribution of child safety seats, and train ing on the installation and use of child safety seats.

The car seat safety program includes:

• Child safety seat inspection events and education classes.

• Child Passenger Safety Tech nician (CPST) training and re certification courses.

• Child safety seats at no cost for families in need.

• Partnering with local organi zations on car seat safety com munity outreach efforts in underserved communities.

The program runs through September 2023.

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The coolest version of the ice cream cone

By Marilyn and Jim Tortolano Orange County Tribune

Sometimes when we go out for tacos we want something cool to balance out the heat. But there’s a place where you can combine the two.

Sweet Rolled Tacos is a unique dessert place with locations in Garden Grove and Stanton. We stopped in at the location in Ko reatown in a center that longtimers will remember as Garden Square.

The taco shape is uniquely handy. It allows you to hold a bunch of tasty ingredients and – as a bonus –you get to eat the “dishes,” as they said in “The Candy Man” song by Sammy Davis Jr.

Simply said, Sweet Rolled Tacos has you choose among a wide array of ice cream concoc tions, delivered in a very tasty, colorful and sweet taco-like shell.

There are 21 varieties on the menu board, ranging from Coco nut Delight to Vietnamese coffee to Cap’N Crunch to Strawberry Shortcake (especially appropri ate for Garden Grove). You can also pick the color of your taco

It’s a month of mud and ugly signs

By Jim Tortolano Orange County Tribune

Journalists, almost like normal people, have their seasons of the year. We just came through “the silly season” of July and August, so named because – in theory – so few really impor tant things happen that we end up reporting about two-headed frogs and Amelia Earhart sight ings.

Chow Lines

shell: black, blue, green, purple, red and original (which looks like a classic taco shell).

Now where Sweet Rolled Ta cos differs from some of the oth er pick-your-treat dessert places is that the ice cream is a basic (and very good) vanilla. It’s rolled into the taco and crested with a wide variety of toppings: sprinkles, cookies, pieces of cake, syrup, fruit, etc.

Marilyn ordered the Birthday Cake and Jim had the Mint Ore os. Both tacos were quickly con sumed and pronounced unique and delicious. Part of the fun of Sweet Rolled Tacos was watch ing the “cook” from start to fin ish, creating and assembling the parts with panache and speed.

The menu in not limited to the taco. There are signature teas, milk shakes, fresh lemonade and slushes.

Because these desserts are a step up from Baskin-Robbins, the price is a bit higher: $7.50 for Birthday Cake, for example,

September and October – in even-numbered years – are “campaign season” for the No vember elections, and contrary to what T.S. Eliot said, these – not April – are the cruelest months.

This is when your mailbox fills up with campaign fliers long on color photographs and short on specific details about much of anything. This is the time when our beautiful cities are hidden behind paper Berlin Walls of huge political signs in garish hues, some with Photoshopped images of the candidate.

Mud flies like Russian kami kaze drones. That person likes Communists. No, you are the one who likes Communists. You want to defund the police. You want to commandeer women’s wombs. You stole my sign! You stole my sign first!

If you are a hopeless optimist, you probably expect that officeseekers – incumbent or aspir ing – would take a thoughtful interest in the issues before the public, do their reading and research and lead by example with courtesy and wisdom in public settings.

That does happen … I mean even the Angels post a win ning season every so often … but I’ve covered a depressing number of meetings in which

THEY”RE COLD AND COOL Birthday Cake and MInt Oreos from Sweet Rolled Tacos

The months of the mud

some of the folks up on the dais appear to have given as much thought to the public interest as our dog Shadow has given to adopting kittens.

Now, realistically, I know that even our saintly Abraham Lincoln probably had big “Elect Honest Abe” signs posted all over Springfield and spoke in glittering generalities like “Lower Taxes! More Services!”

The voting public is usually more interested in day-to-day survival than complex issues of government, so simple mes sages may end up being good enough.

Or perhaps not. The global environment, we are told by scientists, may be at a precari ous tipping point. An alarming number of people are willing to accept as truth the most ridicu lous conspiracy theories full of so much humbug that no comic book writer would dare include

it in the latest issue of “Amaz ing Super-Rocket Person.”

And you know what’s also an noying? Journalists who like to lecture from afar and not have the courage to step into the arena themselves.

That’s a cruel, if true, thing to say. And I’m sure it’s being said a lot this month by the people whose names and faces are on those signs all along Brookhurst and Beach.

Jim Tortolano once served as president of his sixth grade classroom. He was not reelected.

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Arts&Living

Jessica Chastain stands out in this gritty drama

By Jocelyn Noveck AP National Writer

Movie titles are always impor tant, but there’s special signifi cance to the title of “The Good Nurse,” based on the horrific se rial killings of dozens and pos sibly hundreds of patients by a night nurse who injected fatal drugs into IV bags.

Of course, real-life convicted killer Charles Cullen, potential ly one of the most prolific se rial killers of all time, is not the “good nurse” in the title, even in an ironic sense. It is, rather, fellow nurse Amy Loughren – played by a luminous, ef

fortlessly empathetic Jessica Chastain – who first befriended Cullen, then suspected him, then helped bring him down.

In bravely securing the evi dence police needed, Loughren surely saved countless lives, be cause the hospitals where Cullen worked, the film argues, lacked the moral courage to act on their suspicions – firing Cullen for minor offenses and essentially leaving him to keep killing (he worked at nine hospitals.)

In focusing the story on this “good nurse,” director Tobias Lindholm and screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns, working from Charles Graeber’s book, make a powerful argument for telling such stories not via the killers themselves – psychoana

lyzing and perhaps aggrandiz ing them – but via those who bravely confronted them. And so Loughren, a single working mom with heart trouble, be comes an everyday superhero. There’s a simple moviemaking lesson here, too, which is that when you have a cast as talent ed as this, led by Chastain and Eddie Redmayne (going way darker than usual), it becomes less important if the structure seems to veer formulaic. There are, alas, moments where “The Good Nurse” has a too-familiar TV police procedural feel, when you know just what’s going to happen next and see the plot machinery moving. But the act ing, especially Chastain’s nevera-false-moment portrayal, tri umphs over all that.

We begin with a brief prologue in 1999, at a Pennsylvania hospi

Good HHH

It’s The “Good Nurse” vs. Evil Movie Review

tal. Suddenly a patient “codes,” and staff rush – unsuccessfully –to save him. Quietly watching is Cullen, standing against a wall. Redmayne plays Cullen as someone so unremarkable, he can melt into that wall. Seem ingly taking to heart a descrip tion in Graeber’s book of “a sad Mr. Rogers type,” he even wears a gray cardigan.

Lacking definable personality, he is a true cipher. (Redmayne also becomes yet another top British actor to display an un canny facility with American accents.)

Now we jump to 2003, and a New Jersey hospital. Amy, the night nurse, is exhausted and overworked, but obviously de

EDDIE REDMAYNE (left) and Jessica Chastain star in the dramatic film “The Good Nurse” (Netflix)

Sweet Tacos bring two ideas together

and $7.75 for Mint Oreos.

But the taste, the variety and fun of creation make it well worth the extra cash. The taco shape and the ice cream deluxe: a hard combination to beat.

“Sweet Rolled Tacos” in Gar den Grove is located at 9930 Garden Grove Blvd., west of Brookhurst Street. Hours are noon to 10:30 Monday through Thursday; open an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays. The Stanton location is at 10330 Beach Blvd.

Weary courage of “The Good Nurse”

voted to patients. When an el derly patient’s husband balks at leaving his wife alone over night, Amy breaks the rules on no guests and brings him a pil low and blanket.

A single mom, Amy works nights so she can be with her kids in the daytime. She can barely pay the babysitter, let alone the private doctor treat ing her heart condition, which will require surgery. She can’t get care in the hospital because they’d fire her if they knew.

And she still needs several more months to qualify for health insurance.. (The movie makes a good argument for how undervalued nurses are in this country, not to mention the ab surd notion that this nurse who saves lives lacks her own health insurance.)

Enter Cullen, who arrives on the night shift with “great rec ommendations,” according to Amy’s supervisor. Seemingly generous and hard-working, he immediately becomes friends

with Amy, meeting and play ing with her kids, and vowing to help conceal her condition – even sneaking meds from the hospital’s automatic dispensing system (he’s identified a way to cancel an order but still get the drugs). Meanwhile, Amy’s elderly patient dies, inexplica bly. Her husband is gutted. And now, police start asking ques tions.

Two detectives have suspicions right away. These dogged in vestigators, played by Nnamdi Asomugha and Noah Emmerich (the latter latching onto the cul prit far earlier than did his hap less FBI agent in “The Ameri cans”) are stonewalled by the hospital, which is run by sleazy corporate types out to save their for-profit institution over pro tecting lives. Kim Dickens is chilling as a former nurse turned administrator who shills for her hospital.

As for Amy, she initially de fends Charlie, but understands better than anyone how he could have gamed the system.

As more people die, she discov ers his tampering. But the police need more proof.

Chastain’s best scenes come to ward the end when she is seized with fear, yet determined to stop her friend even when it means confronting him boldly at close range as he begins to unravel. Redmayne has the task of show ing us what truly mundane evil looks like. Except for one mo ment that feels jarring for its suddenness, he craftily displays a veneer starting to crack.

So we know whodunit, and we know how. But anyone looking for an answer as to WHY Cul len did the unthinkable won’t get it here (when the real man appeared on “60 Minutes,” he basically had no answer, pull ing back on an unconvincing mercy-killing claim.)

And to the filmmakers’ credit, they don’t manufacture a moti vation where there wasn’t one. There’s no need. The unembel lished horror of this real-life tale is way more than enough.

“The Good Nurse,” a Netflix release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America “for language.” Run ning time: 121 minutes. MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Un der 17 requires adult parent or guardian.

Prep football

Alamitos. Huntington Beach (55, 1-4) lost to Newport Harbor 24-6.

In the Orange League, Western (8-1, 4-0) overpowered Ana heim 62-13 in their rivalry game and claimed the league title.

Westminster (9-1, 2-1) took sec ond place in the Pac-4 League with a 33-7 win over Godinez Fundamental.

Pacifica lost its final game of the year 42-13 to Tustin in Em pire League play.

The Mariners (3-7, 1-4) ended in a three-way tie for fourth with Valencia, and Kennedy.

CIF-SS playoffs start next week. The divisions and pair ings will be announced on Sun day.

Why the Lakers can’t seem to shoot well

Continued from

those guys is the primary rea son why the Lakers are strug gling. They were 8 for 30 –26.7% – from 3-point range against Denver on Wednesday night. They’re shooting 22.3% from beyond the arc so far this season, by far the worst in the NBA. Small sample size, but

awful nonetheless.

“We’ve got to make some shots,’’ James said after the 11099 loss to the Nuggets. It sounds simple. It isn’t. The last time a team shot worse than 22.3% from 3-point range in a season was 1990-91. Wash ington – then the Bullets– shot 19.4% that season. They made only 55 shots from deep that whole season. It wasn’t really a part of the offense.

Now, 3’s are essential. Vital. An absolute must. The Lak ers are averaging 25 points per game from 3-point range. The league average, entering Thurs day, is 36. That’s an 11-point

difference. The Lakers aren’t good enough right now to make up an 11-point difference.

“Obviously, it’s four games. Obviously, the four games that we’ve been playing have been on national TV. Obviously, ev eryone’s been able to watch,” Lakers guard Patrick Bever ley said. “The critique is there for everyone to do. But it’s the game of basketball. Everyone’s going to even out.”

It’s not just the shooting. West brook isn’t healthy; hamstrings are touchy, so who knows when he’ll be right again. Anthony Davis – the guy who was sup posed to extend James’ career by being Robin to his Batman, or even vice versa – has been dogged by injury after injury, and he was grabbing at his left side repeatedly in Wednesday’s loss in Denver. The Lakers didn’t have Kendrick Nunn at

all last year, they haven’t had Dennis Schroder yet this year and won’t for probably a few more weeks.

It’s always something. But shooting better is the quick est fix.

Miami figured out the formula that turned James into a champi on: surround him with shooters and let him work. In the Miami days, it was Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers and – of course – Ray Allen. The Cleve land title year, he had J.R. Smith and Kevin Love, with Kyrie Ir ving knocking down perhaps the biggest 3 of that season in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The title year with the Lakers, there was Danny Green.

On this Lakers team, there’s ... well, not really anybody yet. Key word: Yet. A trade has to be coming.

Ouch! Bolts feeling the pain

from

where there has been a lot that’s happened around him, including within himself in dealing with an injury for the first time,” Staley said. “He’s experiencing a lot of tough stuff that happens in the NFL, and he’s who he always is. He’s poised and steady.”

Entering Week 8, Herbert is tied for the league lead in com pletions (203), third with 2,009 passing yards, and fifth with 12 touchdown passes despite play ing most of the season with frac tured rib cartilage. The injury occurred when he took a brutal hit during the fourth quarter against Kansas City on Sept. 15, but he missed only one play. After struggling in a Week 3 loss to Jacksonville, Herbert passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns the following week at Houston.

Last Sunday’s game against Seattle marked the first time he wasn’t on the injury report in four weeks.

“It’s just continuing to prog ress, get better, do everything I can to rehab, to get treatment and take care of my body,” Her bert said. “As long as you stay

ahead and get after it, I think you can limit those.’’

Making the Chargers’ run of injuries worse this season is that nearly all of the significant ones have happened on their home field at Hollywood Park.

Wide receiver Keenan Allen strained a hamstring during the Sept. 11 opener against Las Ve gas that would sideline him for five games. Two weeks later against Jacksonville, All-Pro offensive left tackle Rashawn Slater (biceps) and wide receiv er Jalen Guyton (knee) suffered season-ending injuries. Line backer Joey Bosa had a groin in jury that will keep him out until at least December.

In the Oct. 17 Monday night overtime win against Denver, Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals, including the gamewinner, but strained his ham string after the first kick.

This past Sunday, cornerback JC Jackson was lost for the sea son after rupturing the patel lar tendon in his right knee. In the fourth quarter, Mike Wil liams suffered a high right ankle sprain that will keep him out for at least four weeks.

The Sports Page GGL Race Finish Fit To Be Tied

Rancho wins to

Prep Football

Thursday

• Loara 34, Bolsa Grande 23

• Los Amigos 34, La Quinta 7

Lakers’

Ah, shoot ... the Lakers can’t

By Tim Reynolds AP Basketball Writer

The season isn’t even two weeks old. Only 5% of the games have been played. Drawing any conclusions at this point would be ridiculous.

Except, perhaps, this one: The Los Angeles Lakers are in trouble. The Lakers are taking an 0-4 record into Friday’s game at Minnesota.

They’re at the bottom of the Western Conference, and if Orlando wasn’t 0-5 the Lakers would have the worst record in the NBA. They’re 78-87

since winning the 2020 NBA title. LeBron James – on pace to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA career scoring leader in a few months – is winless after four games for the second time in his career, the other being his rookie season.

“There’s plenty of time for us to right the ship,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “It starts now. It starts yesterday.”

It should have started in July.

The Lakers surely know this: James is at his best when surrounded by shooters. They maximize

FRIDAY’S

the value of his passing game and they open lanes for him to attack the rim, which even in Year 20 he does probably as well as anyone. And this team, evidently, doesn’t have shooters. The Lakers better go find some.

Frank Vogel got blamed, Russell Westbrook gets shamed, and it’s entirely possible that neither of

Rancho Alamitos High’s football team defeated Santiago 10-0 Friday night to finish as cochamps of the Garden Grove League with Los Amigos, which defeated La Quinta 34-7 on Thurs day night.

The Vaqueros conclude the regular season with a 9-1 mark and a 4-1 league record. The Lobos are 8-2 and 4-1. Santiago is 6-4 and 2-3.

Chris Hurley passed for 166 yards and a touch down for Rancho. Angel Diaz rushed for 71 yards.

Garden Grove High School defeated Marina High 49-0 Friday night to end the regular season as the undisputed champion of the Big 4 League.

The Argos (9-1 overall and 3-0 in league) posted their fifth shutout of the year with the win. The

Chargers are feeling the pain ... literally

By Joe Reedy AP Sports Writer

COSTA MESA (AP) –

Who would have thought six weeks ago Justin Her bert’s ribs would be the least of the Los Angeles Chargers’ concerns?

The star quarterback

continues to progress from his early season in jury, but he has seen his favorite targets and other key players end up side lined.

The Chargers’ lousy luck with injuries seems to be a theme every year, but the first seven weeks of

this season have been es pecially tough.

Despite that, the Char gers are 4-3. But as the players get a well-de served couple of days rest on their bye week, coach Brandon Staley and his staff need to figure out how to contend with a

short-handed roster, espe cially on offense.

The one constant Staley has been able to count on is Herbert’s abil ity to weather everything around him.

“I know that it’s prob ably one of the first times

Friday

• Garden Grove 49, Marina 0

• Tustin 42, Pacifica 13

• Orange 35, Santa Ana 0

• Rancho Al. 10, Santiago 0

• Newport 24, Hunt. Bch. 6

• Edison 40, Corona Del Mar 13

• Los Al. 48, Hunt. Beach 7

• Westminster 33, Godinez 7

• Laguna 40, Ocean View 0

• Western 62, Anaheim 13

• Magnolia 24 Savanna 13

• Tustin 42, Pacifica 13

Vikings are 1-9 and 0-3. In the Orange Coast League, Orange slammed Santa Ana 35-0 to grab the league crown. The Panthers are 6-0 in OCL play and 8-2 overall.

Sunset League play saw Edison (9-1, 4-1) defeat Corona del Mar 40-13 to finish second in the league behind Los

JUSTIN HERBERT

Back looks healthy

I CAN’T DO IT ALL BY MYSELF ...

Denver Nuggets. The team