The Orange County Tribune Jan. 28, 2023

Monument For Quang Tri Is Now History

By Jim Tortolano Orange County Tribune

Two bodies pulled from GG’s Haster Basin Park

From a Staff Writer

For the second time in less than a week, a human body was found at the Haster Basin Park in Garden Grove.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, firefighters received a call for medical aid at 8:40 a.m. Thursday in the area of Haster Street and Lampson Avenue.

Firefighter paramedics found the body of an adult male “in a confined area.”

Two technical units with urban search and rescue personnel were able to remove the body with the help of Anaheim Fire and Rescue.

The cause of death is being investigated by Gar-

den Grove police.

On Sunday night, the body of a woman was found in a storm drain also at the basin park. That incident is also being investigated by the GGPD.

Thursday was a busy day in Garden Grove for the OCFA and GGPD.

At 4:25 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to the 13100 block of Partridge Street – near Harbor Boulevard, west of Haster Street – regarding a report of two adjacent mobile homes on fire. The fire was quickly extinguished and there were no injuries. Garden Grove police provided assistance with traffic control.

After a long and contentious session, the Westminster City Council decided on Wednesday night to put an end to the controversial Quang Tri Monument project and the committee intended to guide it toward completion.

The vote was three in favor – Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, Vice Mayor

NamQuan Nguyen (District 4) and Councilmember Amy Phan West (District 1) – with one opposed – Councilmember Kimberly Ho (District 3) – and one abstaining, Councilmember Carlos Manzo (District 2).

Wednesday’s action appears to terminate plans to build and locate in Westminster a memorial monument celebrating the victory of South Vietnamese forces – with American assistance – over Com-

on page 2

After a spike in early December, the number of confirmed new cases of coronavirus in Orange County has declined for six consecutive weeks.

According to the county health care agency, the latest tally shows that as of the week ending Thursday, Jan. 26, new cases were at 1,223, compared to 1,515 last week

and nearly 4,449 in the Dec. 8 tally.

The latest report from OCHCA shows a decline or no change in three of major categories of measurement of the status of the virus in the county.

In addition to the drop in new cases, deaths were at 26 compared to 23 last week. But hospitalizations

URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE team recovers the body of a man at Haster Basin Park in east Garden Grove (OCFA photo).

Westminster council ends Quang Tri plan

Continued from page 1

munist forces at the Quang Tri citadel in 1972.

But almost from the start, quarrels arose over the composition of the committee, the language on the proposed monument, its size and design and its location. There was some opposition to the idea of the monument itself. NamQuan Nguyen who originally proposed the resolution to end the project and committee, laid out the case – as he saw it – for closing the book on Quang Tri.

“This is an ongoing issue that has caused so much division in the community,” he said. The formation of the committee was not representative of the community and was done for political gain, he claimed.

“The city council is at an impasse and there is no popular support for the monument; it is too big in size to be placed in any city park,” he added. He suggested that proponents of the

Coronavirus stats are still improving in Orange County

Continued from page 1 fell from 248 to 178 and the use of intensive care units for treating COVID-19 patients remained at 28.

To date, Orange County has had 705,608 confirmed cases and 7,791 deaths. Nationally, the number of new cases over the past two weeks has fallen by 24 percent; deaths are down by 3 percent. In California, news cases are down 53 percent and deaths by 7 percent.

monuments organize privately and without any city financial help.

Ho claimed that West was part of a “tight-knit group” allied with former Assemblymember Van Tran, and accused her of being unethical, dishonest and biased.

“I want you to have a heart and think deeper,” she added. West then stepped in to respond although it was Manzo’s turn to speak.

Defending some of her actions to shorten council meetings, she replied, “I have always said I wanted to bring respect back to the council, to bring respect back to …the people who call Westminster their home. Saving time and resources is what we need to do.”

Manzo suggested that West needed to be “respectful of others. You’re constantly interrupting other council members, you’re constantly speaking out of turn.”

He said, “The Vietnamese community in this city is divided and it’s been divided for a long time. Everything is political in this city, including this monument.” Manzo argued that several items placed on recent agendas have “created division” and “added fuel to the fire.”

The mayor spoke last. “We are not going to spend more money on this,” he said. “We are not going to spend more effort on this. We are not going to waste staff time on this.”

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 : orangecountytribune@gmail.com.

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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.

When weighing differing accounts about an issue or an event, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

GG crash sends a woman to a local hospital

A woman was hospitalized after her car was involved in a two-vehicle accident at Clinton Street and Westminster Avenue in southeast Garden Grove Wednesday morning.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, the crash was reported

at 10:33 a.m. Firefighter paramedics treated the woman and transported her to a trauma unit at a nearby hospital.

Garden Grove police secured the accident scene, which included a chopped fire hydrant gushing water high into the air.

Meet the new council, same as old council?

Basic civility is absent in these chambers

The end of one thing is usually the beginning of something else. That’s especially true of election cycles, but sometimes, as the French say, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

If we remember our high school coursework, that means “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” Sadly, that’s true for the Westminster City Council.

As evidenced by Wednesday’s marathon bitterfest, the results of the Nov. 8 election haven’t produced a more congenial group of folks at the helm.

Two are fatally hurt in Placentia crash

PLACENTIA (AP) – A child and two adults were fatally injured when a sedan driven by an allegedly drunken driver crashed into a passenger van and other vehicles in an Orange County intersection, police said.

The crash occurred around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday in Placentia, police said in a statement early Thursday.

Arriving officers found

that several victims had been ejected from the van.

Firefighters pronounced a man and woman dead at the scene.

Three people with serious injuries were transported to UCI Medical Center and two children were taken to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where one of them, a 10-year-old girl,

In a meeting that lasted five hours, the council at first took a ton of abuse from members of the public, then turned on each other.

The topic was whether to cancel the Quang Tri monument project, but the topic sometimes hardly matters.

The “rules of conduct” adopted to try to impose some civility were as effective as the League of Nations was in preventing

World War II.

Usually Reliable Sources

Chi Charlie Nguyen, the new mayor, wasn’t any more successful in keeping order than his predecessor (Tri Ta, now a state Assemblyman).

Speakers and council members interrupted each other, talked over each other, hurled insults, threats and allegations around in a display of incivility that would make a schoolyard full of children seem angelically polite. This is the second such uproar since the new council has been seated .

When will it end? Not anytime soon, it appears, if Wednesday’s council meeting is an example of the “change” the brand new council stands for.

Anaheim police are asking for the public’s help in the investigation of a homicide.

According to the APD, on Thursday at about 7:21 a.m., officers received reports of a man

down on East Street south of the Artesia (91) Freeway.

The victim was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased. APD detectives believe several people

may have witnessed the incident or stopped to help the victim before officers arrived.

Anyone with information related to the incident is urged to call the APD at (714) 765-1900.

THE 2023 VERSION of the Westminster City Council seems just as conrentious and fractured as the previous one.

TRAFFIC ACCIDENT scene at Clinton Street and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove on Wednesday morning (OCFA photo).

NewsUpdate

ADVERTISEMENT FOR DESIGN ASSIST SUBCONTRACTOR PREQUALIFICATION

Subject to conditions prescribed by the County of Orange, responses to prequalification documents are sought for Design Assist contracts for the following scopes: Fire Protection, Plumbing, HVAC/Controls, Electrical/Low Voltage/Fire Alarm for the following project:

PROJECT: Orange County Health Care Campus at El Toro, Irvine CA:

Police beating video released

Video footage of the beating death of Tyre Nichols – a Black man – by five Black police officers in Memphis, Tennessee was released on Friday, showing not only brutal attacks on the victim but profane celebrations by officers.

All five officers have been fired and are facing second degree murder and other charges. Also fired and facing prosecution are two fire department employees who apparently waited 10 minutes after the incident to render any medical aid to Tyre.

According to The New York TImes, his mother pleaded with the public to protest peacefully.

The officers are believed to have been part of a special “street crimes unit” called SCORPION.

Gunman killed seven in Jerusalem

Seven people were killed and three wounded when a Palestinian man fired shots outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem Friday night before being himself shot and killed by police.

According to The Associated Press, the gunman, who was not immediately identified, may have acted in reaction to a Israel military raid in the West Bank that killed nine people.

Sports: Kings beat the Panthers, rise to first

Four players scored goals as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 on the road Friday night.

Anze Kopitor, Adrian Kempe, Viktor Arvidsson and Matt Roy lit the lamp for the Kings, whose record improved to 28-17-6.

The win lifted the team into first place in the NHL Pacific Division with 62 points. Seattle and Las Vegas are tied for second with 61 points.

Also in sports …The Los Angeles Rams have hired Mike LaFleur of the New York Jets as the team’s new offensive coordinator …

Weather: Clouds, showers and sun

The West Orange County area will see a brief return to winter weather. Saturday should be partly cloudy with a daytime high of 63 and an overnight low 51.

Sunday should see showers with a high of 57 during the day and an overnight low of 46. The light rain should continue on Monday with a high of 57, low of 40.

Sunny skies, however, are expected to return on Tuesday with a high of 62 and a low of 39.

General project scope includes the following: This project is a public works project. The project is being developed as the new center for the operation of the Orange County Emergency Medical Services (OCEMS) and Orange County Public Health Laboratory (OCPHL). The site will also house the Orange County Health Care Agency Administration (OCHCA). The objective is to meet the long-term operational best practice requirements of OCEMS, OCPHL and OCHCA and the integration of administration and operational functions into a single campus. This project does not fall under California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). The project site is located in the City of Irvine within the vicinity of Orange County Great Park and consists of two parcels: Parcel 3 (4.38 +/- Acres) and Parcel 4 (5.23 +/- Acres). Within Parcel 4, there is an existing warehouse – Building 360, approximately 120,000 SF which is Not in Contract (NIC). The new building(s) will consist of EMS (Emergency Medical Services) at approximately 14,900 SF, Multipurpose AOC (Agency Operation Center) at approximately 7,500 SF, PHL (Public Health Laboratory) at approximately 23,400 SF, HCA (Health Care Agency) Administration at approximately 12,500 SF and shared spaces of approximately 9,300 SF.

The EMS shall accommodate the workplace for EMS staff along with Pharmacy Lab and the support spaces for the AOC. The Multipurpose AOC serves as the connection area between EMS & PHL and serves as the main entry point for visitors. The build out of the PHL consists of laboratory spaces and support spaces of the lab and will include a Bio-Safety Level 3 lab facility. Construction is scheduled to commence July 2023 thru January 2025.

PRE-QUALIFICATION OF PROSPECTIVE SUBCONTRACTORS: The County of Orange has determined that subcontractors who submit bids to PCL Construction on this Project must be pre-qualified within PCL’s system. Only those subcontractors who pre-qualify will be allowed to bid on the project.

LICENSE: C16, C36, C42, C43, C20, C7, C10 See Description of Classifications (www.cslb.ca.gov)

Interested firms may obtain Prequalification Documents beginning on January 23, 2023 by contacting: Chantel Marcq – cmarcq@pcl.com

Reference “Orange County Health Care Campus at El Toro Prequalification” in your email:

Submittal of the required Prequalification Forms will be received at the same location on or before February 03, 2023, by 2:00 p.m. Please submit all necessary forms and information in sufficient time in advance of this date.

No Prequalification Submittals will be received after 2:00 p.m., February 03, 2023.

Confidentiality of the information provided will be respected to the extent permitted by law.

QUESTIONS: Only written inquiries will be permitted. Questions must be submitted in writing by January 27, 2023 and will be acceptable by email:

Same Contact as above

All information requested must be completed and returned in order to be considered “responsive” to the requirements of prequalification.

a request to: orangecountytribune@gmail.com.

VIDEO OF POLICE BEATING (City of Memphis)

THE 2023 OSCAR NOMINATIONS

The Multi-Verse of Oscar’s Picks

Some unlikely nominations. some big hits

By Jake Coyle AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – The multiverse-skipping sci-fi indie hit

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” led nominations to the 95th Academy Awards as Hollywood heaped honors on big-screen spectacles like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” a year after a streaming service won best picture for the first time.

Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” landed a leading 11 nominations on Tues-

day, including nods for Michelle Yeoh and comeback kid Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

Released back in March, the A24 film has proven an unlikely Oscar heavyweight against the expectations of even its makers. Yeoh became the first Asian actor nominated for best actress.

“Even just to be nominated means validation, love, from your peers,” said an “overwhelmed” Yeoh speaking by phone from London. “What it means for the rest of the Asians around the world, not just in America but globally, is to say

we have a seat at the table. We finally have a seat at the table. We are being recognized and being seen.”

The 10 movies up for best picture are: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “The Fabelmans,”

“Tar,” “Top Gun: Maverick,”

“Avatar: The Way of Water,”

“Elvis,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Women Talking” and “Triangle of Sadness.”

Nominations were announced Tuesday from the academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Riz

Ahmed and Allison Williams. If last year’s Oscars were dominated by streaming – Apple TV+’s “CODA” won best picture and Netflix landed a leading 27 nominations – movies that drew moviegoers to multiplexes after two years of pandemic make up many of this year’s top contenders.

For the first time, two sequels –“Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” – were nominated for best picture.

The two films together account for some $3.5 billion in box office. Tom Cruise missed out on an acting nomination, but “Top Gun: Maverick” – often credited with bringing many moviegoers back to theaters– walked away with seven nominations, including best sound, best visual effects and best song for

“EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE” has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

The multi-verse of Oscar nominations

Continued from page 5

Lada Gaga’s “Hold My Hand,” Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” made in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death, also scored five nominations, including the first acting nod for a performance in a Marvel movie: Angela Bassett, the likely favorite to win best supporting actress.

Nine of the 10 best-picture nominees were theatrical releases – something cheered by “Tar” filmmaker Todd Field, nominated for direction and screenplay. Field noted the theatrical marketplace – especially the specialty business – is still in recovery mode.

“I hope that the faith and the enthusiasm that’s been paid for theatrical films continues,” Field said by phone Tuesday from Los Angeles.

Going by earlier guild nomi-

nations, Martin McDonagh’s Ireland-set dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” may be the stiffest competition for “Everything Everywhere All at Once’’ at the Oscars.

The Searchlight Pictures film landed nine nominations Tuesday, including nods for McDonagh’s directing and screenplay, and a quartet of acting nominations: Colin Farrell for best actor, Kerry Condon for best supporting actress and both Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan for best supporting actor.

Baz Luhrmann’s bedazzled biopic “Elvis” – another summer box-office hit, with $287.3 million worldwide – came away with eight nominations, including a best actor nod for star Austin Butler and nominations for its costumes, sound and production design.

Though Steven Spielberg’s

“The Fabelmans” struggled to catch on with audiences, the director’s autobiographical coming-of-age tale landed Spielberg his 20th Oscar nomination and ninth nod for best-director.

John Williams, his longtime composer, extended his record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person, and, at 90, became the oldest nominee ever. Williams’ 53rd nominations trails only Walt Disney’s 59.

In the ultra-competitive best actress race, “Fabelmans” star Michelle Williams was nominated after being passed over by the Screen Actors Guild. The other nominees for best actress are: Ana de Armas, “Blonde””Cate Blanchett, “Tar’” and Andrea Riseborough, who emerged as a late contender after a host of celebrities rallied around her performance as an alcoholic West Texas mother in the little-seen “To Leslie.” Notably left out of the category were Viola Davis (“Woman King”) and Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”).

Only one streaming title broke into the best picture field: The German WWI film “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Can Oakland hang on to the A’s? Does it want to?

keep running into obstacles along the way.

“It’s time to fish or cut bait. Oakland, do you want them or not? And if not, where are the A’s going to get the best deal? Is it Vegas? Is it somewhere else? They’ll have to figure that out.”

What the A’s are thinking is

a little bit of a mystery. Team President Dave Kaval was talkative earlier in the process, saying the A’s are pursuing two different tracks with Oakland and Las Vegas. But he went silent on the subject several months ago. A’s spokeswoman Catherine Aker said mostly recently that the club would withhold

comment for now.

The A’s have been negotiating with Oakland to build a $1 billion stadium as part of a $12 billion redevelopment deal.

Newly elected Mayor Sheng Thao said reaching a deal is important as long as it makes economic sense to the city. Her predecessor, Libby Schaaf, led prior efforts to reach an agreement, but after the city and the A’s missed that October deadline, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed reservations a deal will ever get done.

“The pace in Oakland has not been rapid, number one,’’ Manfred said at the time. “We’re in a stadium situation that’s really not tenable. I mean, we need to do something to alter the situation. So I’m concerned about the lack of pace.”

Recent California history justifies his concerns. SoFi Stadium in Southern California and Chase Center in San Francisco were built with private money, and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara was 90% privately financed.

“And then I think there was some contagion where around the country people realized these deals could be done well privately and could generate a return on investment to those investors,” said David Carter, a sports business professor at the University of Southern California. “Why are we throwing public money at it at all?’’

That’s also a question being asked in Las Vegas, even though the Raiders in 2016 received $750 million from the Nevada Legislature for a stadium. That then was the largest amount of public money for a sports venue, but it was surpassed last March by the $850 million pledged to construct a new stadium for the

Fatal DUI crash

was later pronounced dead. Police did not release the identities of any of the victims.

The driver of the sedan, identified only as a 24-year-old man from Santa Ana, was arrested for investigation of felony DUI, police said

NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Another deal like the one for Allegiant Stadium, where the Raiders play, appears unlikely in Nevada. T-Mobile Arena, which opened in 2017, was privately financed. An arena planned for south of the Las Vegas Strip also wouldn’t rely on public funds.

Las Vegas, however, has shown financing creativity. Its Triple-A baseball stadium received $80 million in 2017 for naming rights from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Room taxes fund the authority, so it was public money in a backdoor sort of way.

Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, who is on the board of the convention authority, has spoken with A’s representatives about their interest in Las Vegas and said he is aware of the club’s talks with other Nevada officials. He said the A’s are taking a much different approach than the Raiders, who identified Las Vegas early as their choice landing spot after many years of failing to get a new stadium in Oakland.

“When the Raiders decided to come to Las Vegas, they had a clear plan,” Naft said. “You had a clear body that was tasked with assessing the worth and the value, and they committed to the destination. I have not seen that from the Oakland A’s at any level, and it’s not really our job to go out and beg them to come here because we have earned the reputation of the greatest arena on Earth. We have put in both the dollars and the labor to make that the case.

“I think I’ve made myself clear, but from conversations with others, I don’t think I’m alone on that.”

New Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo “will not raise taxes” to attract the A’s or any other team, his spokeswoman, Elizabeth Ray, said in a statement. But she said the club could qualify for other ongoing “economic development programs,” which could mean tax breaks similar to what Tesla received in 2014.

Manfred said in December that the A’s relocation fee would be waived if they move to Las Vegas, a savings to the club reportedly of up to $1 billion.

BATTLING FOR A TITLE

Las Vegas A’s: Is That A Good Bet For MLB?

Oakland doesn’t seem very anxious to keep the team

By Mark Anderson AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) –

SANTIAGO HIGH SCHOOL’S boys’ basketball team is tied for first in the Garden Grove League with La Quinta after Friday’s games. In earlier GGL action (above), Jacob Buboi of Santiago (1) goes up for a shot. For Rancho Alamitos, Henry Phu (3) defends. (GGUSD photo).

Grove League deadlocked at top

The Garden Grove League boys’ basketball race is tied up as Loara defeated Santiago 60-50 Friday night at the Saxon gym.

Combined with La Quinta’s 62-50 win over Rancho Alamitos, the Cavaliers and the Aztecs are tied with 6-2 records. Lo-

ara is a game back at 5-3. Each team has two more league games next week on Tuesday and Thursday. Kedir Abdi led the Saxons with 21 points. Markus Toscano added 13 points and pulled down 19 rebounds.

Xavier Ojeda led the Cavs with 20 points.

Prep Hoops Scores

Friday Jan. 27 (boys)

Loara 60, Santiago 50

La Quinta 62, Rancho Alamitos 50

Western 61, Century 31

Savanna 51, Magnolia 48

Newport Harbor 77, Huntingtpn Beach 66

Friday, Jan, 2 (girls)

Segerstrom 54, Garden Grove 14

Godinez 37, Ocean View 35

Thursday, Jan. 26 (boys)

Crean Lutheran 72, Pacifica 46

Orangewood 73, Capistrano Valley Christian 50

Thursday, Jan. 26 (girls)

Santa Ana 34, Orange 20

Edison 56, Huntington Beach 32

Marina 60, Laguna Beach 53

Crean Lutheran 63, Pacifica 37

Orangewood 57, Capistrano Valley Christian 17

In the Orange League, Western (8-0) locked up no worse than a tie for the title with a 61-31 victory over Century. The Pioneers led 38-14 at the half.

Savanna (6-2) kept its position in second place with a 51-48 win over Magnolia (2-6).

In the Wave League, Newport Harbor (3-0) stayed in the lead with its 77-66 win over Huntington Beach (0-3).

On the girls’ side, Godinez High (7-1) maintained its position in first place in the Golden West League with a 37-35 triumph over Ocean View (5-3), which slipped to third.

Segerstrom (6-2) stayed a game back with a 54-14 win over Garden Grove (0-8).

The GWL championship may come down to next Thursday as the Grizzlies visit the Jaguars at the Segerstrom gym.

The Oakland Athletics have spent years trying to get a new stadium while watching Bay Area neighbors such as the Giants, Warriors, 49ers and Raiders successfully move into state-of-the-art venues, and now time is running short on their efforts.

The A’s lease at RingCentral Coliseum expires after the 2024 season, and though they might be forced to extend the terms, the club and Major League Baseball have deemed the stadium unsuitable for a professional franchise.

They are searching for a new stadium in Oakland or Las Vegas, but they

have experienced difficulties in both areas. The A’s missed a major deadline in October to get a deal done in Oakland, and there has been little indication they will receive the kind of funding they want from Las Vegas.

“I think the A’s have to look at it in a couple of ways,” said Brendan Bussmann, director of government affairs for Las Vegas-based Global Market Advisors.

“Obviously, they have struggled in Oakland to get a deal across the line. It isn’t for a lack of effort. . You have an owner that’s willing to pony up money, you have a club that wants to sit there and figure out a way to make it work, and you

RING CENTRAL COLISEUM is one of the oldest stadiums in Major League Baseball (Wikipedia).