Schiff, Garvey square off in race for Feinstein’s Senate seat
By City News Service
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican former Dodger Steve Garvey will square off Tuesday in the battle to claim the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Dianne Feinstein.
Schiff is considered a heavy favorite to win the seat in Democrat-heavy California, although both he and Garvey each earned about one-third of the vote during the March primary election.
Both candidates actually appear twice on the ballot — once in the race to fill out the remainder of Feinstein’s term, which ends in January, and again in the race for another six-year term.
When Feinstein died in September 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed former Emily’s List President Laphonza Butler to serve out most of the remainder of her term in the Senate, until someone else is elected. Butler decided not to run for the seat.
Schiff, 64, has run his campaign on a platform of protecting democracy. He has been ridiculed by Donald
Trump for his criticism of the former president from various posts: as Trump impeachment manager in 2020, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“We’re in the fight of our lives for the future of our country,” Schiff said in a statement when he launched his campaign. “Our democracy is under assault from MAGA extremists, who care only about gaining power and keeping it. And our economy is simply not working for millions of Americans, who are working harder than ever just to get by.”
In June of last year, Schiff was censured by the Republican-led House on a partyline vote for comments he made during the investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia. Schiff took the censure by Republicans as a badge of honor.
“For the first time in generations, our country and its citizens are seeing their rights and freedoms recede,
not expand,” Schiff said on his campaign’s website.
“From abortion and reproductive care to LGBTQ equality and the ability to vote — all of these inherent rights are under assault. We need to preserve and protect our rights and freedoms — and yes, expand them — not take them away, as reactionary MAGA Republicans and a partisan Supreme Court have successfully done over the last few years.”
Schiff said he will also tackle the twin crises of housing affordability and homelessness.
“We simply do not have enough housing that’s affordable, and because of that, we have seen a dramatic rise in people experiencing homelessness,” Schiff said. “We need to build hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing each year in California alone, and help those struggling to pay for housing every day.”
He added that the government needs to dramatically
change how it approaches homelessness, not only to prevent people from ending up on the streets but also to find effective methods of housing them.
One of the main components of Schiff’s campaign is his affordability agenda.
“California working families are facing an affordability crisis. And we can do something about it,” Schiff said.
“Corporations are raising the prices of goods with little oversight and swallowing up their competition. We need federal price gouging rules, better antitrust enforcement, and to drive down the costs of prescription drugs and gas — all while protecting and empowering workers.”
Schiff was first elected to Congress in 2000, representing a large swath of the greater Los Angeles area. Previously he served as a California state senator and as an assistant U.S. Attorney.
Garvey, 75, faces an uphill battle, as a Republican hasn’t
Ex-OC Supervisor Andrew Do pleads guilty to bribery charge
By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit Wednesday against PepsiCo Inc. and The Coca-Cola Co. over the bottling giants’ role in plastics pollution and alleged misrepresentation of plastic recyclability.
County officials also contend Pepsi and CocaCola failed to disclose significant harmful impacts to the environment and public health associated with using plastic beverage containers, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed in LA County Superior Court, accuses the companies of falsely claiming that plastic containers are recyclable despite knowing that plastics can’t be readily disposed of without pollution. Producing, disposing and recycling plastic create greenhouse gas emissions and negative environmental impacts, officials said.
“Los Angeles County is committed to reducing the use of plastic and protecting the environment,” Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. “Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing. Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.”
William Dermody, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association which represents Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, challenged the county’s assertions.
“The allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true,” Dermody said
Thursday in a statement to the Pasadena Independent. “Driven by the California Redemption Value bottle return and investments by America’s beverage companies, California has one of the highest bottle recycling rates in the country — 71% in 2023. Our bottles are designed to be recycled and remade and can include up to 100% recycled plastic. America’s beverage companies are proud of our leadership in California, and across the country, and will continue our partnership with the Golden State to get every bottle back.”
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo own a wide range of beverage brands, including Coke, Pepsi, Dasani, Smartwater, Fanta, Aquafina, Gatorade, 7-Up, Sprite, Vitamin Water and Mountain Dew. A tradeoff for such dominant market share is the two companies have ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for five consecutive years “with no meaningful accountability for their plastic pollution,” according to the lawsuit.
The county alleges the companies have largely contributed to plastic pollution’s emergence as a local and global crisis that threatens human health and the environment.
“PepsiCo and Coca-Cola engaged in a disinformation campaign to make consumers falsely believe that purchasing their products in single-use plastic bottles is an environmentally responsible choice,” according to a statement from County Counsel Dawyn Harrison’s office. “Because plastic does not biodegrade naturally in the environment, but rather breaks down into smaller fragments and pieces, their
Steve Garvey, left, and Adam Schiff. | Photos courtesy of Steve Garvey for U.S. Senate and Adam Schiff/Facebook
Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page and other officials reassured the public Tuesday that multiple steps have been taken to protect the security of votes ahead of this week’s election.
As Page has done before the last few elections, he led reporters on a tour of his office’s headquarters to explain everything being done to guard against potential cheating and sabotage. It comes as dozens of residents regularly attend Orange County Board of Supervisors meetings alleging long-debunked conspiracy theories such as vote-flipping, which is not possible since the voting machines are not online.
Another issue that has cropped up in this election is the fire-bombing of drop-off ballot boxes in Arizona and Washington. Page told reporters that Orange County’s 123 drop boxes contain a fire-suppression chemical that will douse any incendiary device even if a saboteur manages to slip it into a “very narrow” slot.
“We try to address every scenario,” he said.
If some ballots do manage to get destroyed,
OC Registrar assures public of voter security
his office will do everything possible to reach out publicly to find the voters affected so they can cast their vote again correctly, Page said.
The registrar sends out postcards debunking conspiracies as well as an electronic newsletter to combat misinformation. This year, his office has partnered with others on social media videos explaining the voting and tabulating processes.
Most election fraud involves the circulating of nominating petitions, according to Assistant District Attorney Keith Bogardus. Page noted that there have been no prosecutions of anyone trying to vote multiple times or impersonating other voters since he took the job as registrar, and since 2018, audits of election results have confirmed those results, he added.
About 85% of the county’s voters will cast a ballot by mail, Page said.
Because of the high and growing volume of vote-bymail ballots, Page convinced the Orange County Board of Supervisors to spend about $4 million expanding his
By Paul Anderson, City News Service
office’s ability to count and process the votes.
The office had two sorters in 2022 and now has four, Page said. The office also doubled the number of machines to extract votes from mail-ballots from eight to 16.
About 430,000 votes have been cast so far in this election since early voting began Oct. 7, Page said.
The votes are downloaded onto thumb drives that are delivered back to the Registrar’s Office, and the only time the office goes online is to put the results on its web page, Page said.
“The results are always secure,” Page said.
A team of employees goes over signatures on vote-by-mail ballots to match them with public records and a team of three is responsible for deciding if a signature should be challenged. In those cases, the voter is contacted and asked to sign a new affidavit.
The office also offers an application so the signature verification can be done electronically, Page said.
The employees also go over each ballot to ensure they can go through machines that scan and
or used a
instead of a required black-ink pen, the ballot is duplicated so it can be run through the machine.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, who represents portions of San Diego and south Orange counties and chairs the Elections and Constitutional Amendments committee, tagged along for the tour Tuesday and declared that it made her more confident.
“Seeing this great work today gives me confidence in our elections,” Blakespear said. “It gives me confidence as an individual and as a public official.”
She encouraged concerned residents to come down to the Registrar’s Office to see for themselves instead of relying on social media or other lessinformed sources.
Bogardus assured the public that all allegations of election fraud will be
treated seriously and fully investigated.
“We take every allegation seriously,” Bogardus said. An election fraud hotline was set up at 657-707-4048. Complaints may also be emailed to 2024.elections@ ocdapa.org.
But Bogardus said voter fraud is not common.
“Voters can have confidence this election is secure and their voices will be heard,” he said.
LAHSA seeks volunteers for 2025 homeless count
By Staff
The upcoming threeday homeless count in the Los Angeles area needs volunteers, the LA Homeless Services Authority announced Thursday.
The 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count takes place Jan. 21-23, with online registration now available at count.lahsa.org.
The annual homeless census typically involves thousands of volunteers who fan out across LA County’s 4,000 square miles to conduct to gauge unsheltered homelessness, according to LAHSA. Traveling in small groups, volunteers record the number of unsheltered people, tents, vehicles and makeshift shelters they observe in assigned census tracts.
“Last year’s Homeless Count marked the first decrease in street homelessness that Los Angeles has seen in years,” LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum
said in a statement. “As we gear up for this year’s count, community support is crucial. We need thousands of volunteers to join us in counting our unhoused neighbors so we can better understand where they are, the services they need most and what it will take to bring them home.”
LAHSA began conducting annual homeless counts in 2016 to gather data for an analysis of people experiencing homelessness in the LA Continuum of Care, which covers most of the county. Pasadena, Glendale and Long Beach have separate health authorities.
On Jan. 21, count volunteers will cover the San Fernando Valley and LA Metro areas. Day two takes place in the San Gabriel Valley and East LA, and on Jan. 23 volunteers will cover the Antelope Valley, West and South LA and
the South Bay and Harbor region.
The three-part count assesses unsheltered and youth homelessness, sheltered homelessness and a demographic survey. LAHSA officials said they depend on volunteers to accomplish the unsheltered count.
LAHSA is expected to collect youth count data
from Jan. 22-31 and finish a housing inventory count Jan. 22.
The 2024 count found that homelessness slightly decreased in the Los Angeles after several consecutive years of increases.
Unhoused LA County residents totaled 75,312 in January, compared with 75,518 in 2023 for a
downtick of 0.27%, and 45,252 unhoused individuals were counted in the city of Los Angeles, compared with 46,260 in 2023, a drop of 2.2%, Unsheltered homelessness in LA County decreased 5.1% compared with 2023, but the shelter population increased 12.7%, and unsheltered homelessness
in the city of LA dropped about 10.7%, while the city’s shelter census rose 17.7%.
LAHSA is a Los Angeles city and county joint powers agency.
Data from the annual homeless counts impacts funding local governments receive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
count them. If someone spilled coffee on a ballot
pencil
| Photo courtesy of Orange County Registrar of Voters/Facebook
The 2025 census of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County is set for January. | Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
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OBreast cancer rates rising in women younger than 40, Asian women
By Suzanne Potter, Producer, Public News Service
ctoberwasBreast CancerAwareness Month - and experts say in recent years, they’ve seen a rise in diagnoses among women younger than age 40, as well as Asian American women.
Patients should discuss their risk factors, such as family medical history, breast density, age and lifestyle with a doctor. Dr. Tran Ho, a breast surgical oncologist at El Camino Health in Mountain View, sees the issue firsthand.
“If we’re thinking about early-stage breast cancers, for example, if it is caught at a very early stage, the fiveyear survival rates are near 99% for these women, and so patients do enormously well if we can catch these cancers early,” she explained.
According to the California Cancer Registry, 25,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, making it the second most common type of cancer among women in
Eof breast cancer are seen in women age 40 and younger - but they respond well with early detection.
“Triple-negative breast cancers or HER-2 positive breast cancers are very treatable. It’s just that these types of cancers can grow at a quicker rate, and so they’re more likely to recur,” she continued.
ing; surgeries are becoming less invasive, and radiation is now more targeted, which reduces long-term side effects.
The good news is that survival rates are improv-
References: Every Woman Counts HCS 2024
Election skeptics are targeting voting officials with ads that suggest they don’t have to certify results
By Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch, and Doug Bock Clark, ProPublica
arlierlastmonth, subscriberstothe Wisconsin Law Journal received an email with an urgent subject: “Upholding Election Integrity — A Call to Action for Attorneys.”
The letter began by talking about fairness and following the law in elections. But it then suggested that election officials do something that courts have found to be illegal for over a century: treat the certification of election results as an option, not an obligation.
The large logo at the top of the email gave the impression that it was an official correspondence from the respected legal newspaper, though smaller print said it was sent on behalf of a public relations company. The missive was an advertisement from a new group with deep ties to activists who have challenged the legitimacy of
recent American elections.
The group, Follow the Law, has placed ads in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin news outlets serving attorneys, judges and election administrators — individuals who could be involved in election disputes. In Georgia, it ran ads supporting the State Election Board as its majority, backed by former President Donald Trump, passed a rule that experts warned could have allowed county board members to exclude enough Democratic votes to impact the presidential election. (A judge later struck down the rule as “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”)
In making its arguments about certification, Follow the Law has mischaracterized election rules and directed readers to a website providing an incomplete and inaccurate description of how certification works
and what the laws and rules are in various states, election experts and state officials said.
“Anyone relying on that website is being deceived, and whoever is responsible for its content is being dishonest,” said Mike Hassinger, public information officer for Georgia’s secretary of state.
Certification is the mandatory administrative process that officials undertake after they finish counting and adjudicating ballots. Official results need to be certified by tight deadlines, so they can be aggregated and certified at the state and federal levels. Other procedures like lawsuits and recounts exist to check or challenge election outcomes, but those typically cannot commence until certification occurs. If officials fail to meet those deadlines or exclude a subset of votes, courts could order them to certify, as they have done in the past. But experts have warned that, in a worst-case scenario, the transition of power could be thrown into chaos.
“These ads make it seem as if there’s only one way for election officials to show that they’re on the ball, and that is to delay or refuse to certify an election. And just simply put, that is not their role,” said Sarah Gonski, an Arizona elections attorney and senior policy adviser for the Institute for Responsive Government, a think tank working on election issues. “What this is, is political propaganda that’s dressed up in a fancy legal costume.” The activities of Follow the Law, which have not been previously reported, represent a broader push by
the Golden State. Ho said certain aggressive types
Photo by Susan G. Komen 3-Day on Unsplash
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
those aligned with Trump to leverage the mechanics of elections to their advantage. The combination of those strategies, including recruiting poll workers and removing people from voting rolls, could matter in an election that might be determined by a small number of votes.
Since Trump lost the 2020 election, at least 35 election board members in various states, who have been overwhelmingly Republican, have unsuccessfully tried to refuse to certify election results before being compelled to certify by courts or being outvoted by Democratic members. Last month, a county supervisor in Arizona pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failing to perform election duties when she voted to delay certifying the 2022 election. And in September, the American Civil Liberties Union sued an election board member in Michigan after he said he might not certify the 2024 results. He ultimately signed an affidavit acknowledging his legal obligation to certify, and the ACLU dismissed its case. Experts have warned that more could refuse to certify the 2024 election if Trump loses.
Follow the Law bills itself as a “group of lawyers committed to ensuring elections are free, fair and represent the true votes of all American citizens.”
It’s led by Melody Clarke, a longtime conservative activist with stints at Heritage Action, a conservative advocacy organization, and the Election Integrity Network, headed by a lawyer who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
This summer, Clarke left a leadership position at EIN to join the Election Trans-
parency Initiative, a group headed by Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official. The two groups work together, according to Cuccinelli and EIN’s 2024 handbook.
The banner ads that appeared in Georgia and Wisconsin outlets disclosed they were paid for by the American Principles Project Foundation. ETI is a subsidiary of a related nonprofit, the American Principles Project. Financial reports show that packaging magnate Richard Uihlein has contributed millions of dollars to the American Principles Project this year through a political action committee. Uihlein has funneled his fortune into supporting far-right candidates and election deniers, as ProPublica has reported.
Cuccinelli, Clarke and a lawyer for Uihlein did not respond to requests for comment or detailed lists of questions. Cuccinelli previously defended to ProPublica the legality of election officials exercising their discretion in certifying results. “The proposed rule will protect the foundational, one person-one vote principle underpinning our democratic elections and guard against certification of inaccurate or erroneous results,” Cuccinelli wrote in a letter to Georgia’s State Election Board.
The most recent ads appear to be an extension of a monthslong effort that started in Georgia to expand the discretion of county election officials ahead of the November contest.
In August and September, Follow the Law bought ads as Georgia’s election board passed controversial rules, including one that empowered county election board members to not certify votes they found suspicious. As ProPublica
Election
has reported, the rule was secretly pushed by the EIN, where Clarke worked as deputy director.
Certification “is not a ministerial function,” Cuccinelli said at the election board’s August meeting. The law, he argued, “clearly implies that that board is intended and expected to use its judgment to determine, on very short time frames, what is the most proper outcome of the vote count.”
However, a state judge made clear in an October ruling the dangers of giving county board members the power to conduct investigations and decide which votes are valid. If board members, who are often political appointees, were “free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge” and refuse to certify election results, “Georgia voters would be silenced,” he wrote, finding that this would be unconstitutional. The case is on appeal and will be heard after the election.
Despite that ruling, and another from a different judge also finding both certification rules unconstitutional, Follow the Law’s website section for Georgia still asserts that a State Election Board rule “makes crystal clear” that county board members’ duty is “more than a simple ministerial task” without mentioning either ruling. The state Republican party has appealed the second ruling.
In a Telegram channel created by a Fulton County, Georgia, commissioner, someone shared what they called a “dream checklist” for election officials last week that contains extensive “suggestions” for how they should fulfill their statutory duties. The unsigned 15-page document, which
bears the same three icons that appear on Follow the Law’s website, concludes, “Resolve all discrepancies prior to certification.”
On the same day the Georgia judge ruled that county board members can’t refuse to certify votes, Follow the Law began running ads in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin legal publications. The communications argued that certification is a discretionary step officials should take only after performing an investigation to ensure an election’s accuracy, largely continuing the line of argument that Cuccinelli pushed to Georgia’s election board and that the lawyers took before the judge. “Uphold your oath to only certify an accurate election,” said banner ads that ran in WisPolitics, a political news outlet. Another read: “No rubber stamps!” WisPolitics did not respond to requests for comment.
In Pennsylvania, the ad claimed that “simply put, the role of election officials is not ‘ministerial’” and that election officials are by law “required to ensure (and investigate if necessary) that elections are free from ‘fraud, deceit, or abuse’ and that the results are accurate prior to certification.”
Follow the Law has also directly contacted at least one county official in Eureka County, Nevada, pointing him to the group’s website, according to a letter obtained by ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch.
Follow the Law’s ads and
website overstate officials’ roles beyond what statutes allow, state officials in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin said.
The group’s Wisconsin page reads: “Canvassers must first ensure that all votes are legally cast and can only certify results after verifying this.” But officials tasked with certifying elections are scorekeepers, not referees, said Edgar Lin, Wisconsin policy strategist and attorney for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit that works to protect the integrity of American elections. Lin and other experts said officials ensure the accuracy of an election’s basic arithmetic, for example, by checking that the number of ballots matches the number of voters, but they are not empowered to undertake deeper investigations.
Gonski said that in addition to overstating certifiers’ responsibilities, Follow the Law’s messaging underplays the protections that already exist. “Our election system is chockfull of checks and balances,” Gonski said. “Thousands of individuals have roles to play, and all of them seamlessly work together using well-established procedures to ensure a safe, accurate and secure election. No single individual has unchecked power over any piece of the process.”
Ads in the Wisconsin Law Journal and the Legal Intelligencer in Pennsylvania also presented the findings of a poll that Follow the Law said was conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a company whose credibil-
ity the ad emphasizes. But Rasmussen Reports did not conduct the poll. It was conducted by Scott Rasmussen, who founded the polling company but has not worked there in over a decade. Both the company and pollster confirmed the misattribution but did not comment further. The Wisconsin Law Journal and ALM, which owns the Legal Intelligencer, declined to comment.
Sam Liebert, a former election clerk and the Wisconsin director for All Voting is Local, said he wants the state’s attorney general to issue an unequivocal directive reminding election officials of their legal duty to certify.
“Certifying elections is a mandatory, democratic duty of our election officials,” he said. “Each refusal to certify threatens to validate the broader election denier movement, while sowing disorder in our election administration processes.”
Do you have any information about Follow the Law or other groups’ efforts to challenge election certification that we should know? Have you seen Follow the Law ads or outreach elsewhere? If so, please make a record of the ad and reach out to us. Phoebe Petrovic can be reached by email at ppetrovic@wisconsinwatch.org and by Signal at 608-571-3748. Doug Bock Clark can be reached at 678-243-0784 and doug. clark@propublica.org. Republished with Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Voting booths. | Photo by Mel Green CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Jessica Celi has lived in the Bay Area for almost her entire life. She spent most of her 20s jumping from industry to industry, trying to find her place in the professional world. She returned to school to specialize in human resources and graduated last year. Then, she was laid off from her first job. That’s when she entered the clean energy job market.
Celi, 30, is just finishing up her 11-month program as a SolarCorps fellow in the Bay Area with GRID Alternatives, a national nonprofit that provides no-cost residential solar installations for eligible low-income households in various regions and also trains locals to provide the service. This year, the organization is expanding its yearslong partnership with the U.S.-run public service agency AmeriCorps to help launch the American Climate Corps, President Joe Biden’s initiative to train and deploy a diverse workforce to, among other things, work in sectors contributing to the clean energy transition. It’s an alternative to the promised Civilian Climate Corps that Democrats axed from his landmark climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law two years ago, and Celi is part of the inaugural class.
“I am part of something bigger, and I do look forward to moving into a career throughout the long term in the renewable industry,” she said.
Two years after the Civilian Climate Corps died in Congress, groups like GRID Alternatives and the AmeriCorps are picking up the mantle to make the president’s vision of a new green workforce a reality. Corps members do all kinds of work—from restoring wetlands to managing forests—but the SolarCorps focuses on deploying solar panel technology in California, Colorado, and Washington D.C. to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving the planet’s warming. This year’s SolarCorps cohort at GRID Alternatives has installed solar for over 1,170 families. Since October 2023, the organization has orchestrated some 130 job placements. As the Inflation Reduction Act injects $370 billion toward the clean energy sector through tax credits, grants, and loans, the sector sees a rare opportunity for growth.
Climate Corps workers: California here we come
Broadcast version by
By Yessenia Funes for Atmos.
Suzanne Potter
for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration
The American Climate Corps includes private and public partners from across the country, from the U.S. Forest Service to Operation Fresh Start, a Wisconsinbased organization that helps young people find career pathways. While the Biden administration didn’t provide the American Climate Corps with its own budget to build this new workforce, the White House is directing agency dollars and grants to invest in AmeriCorps programs already molding the green jobs of tomorrow.
Some organizations— like GRID Alternatives—are bringing renewable energy to communities of color, lowincome communities, and other communities that have historically been excluded or disinvested. President Biden committed to distributing at least 40% of his federal investment benefits to these neighborhoods that need them the most. Programs like the SolarCorps are attempting to realize that goal.
SolarCorps has been working with AmeriCorps since 2006 long before climate became a national priority. Now, the program plans to expand to more states thanks to an infusion of new grant dollars GRID Alternatives secured from the Inflation Reduction Act. The organization has provided paid fellowships to over 300 individuals like Celi to learn how to install solar panels, as well as how to engage with the community.
Celi, for instance, was an outreach fellow. Her fellowship is now ending, but her role involved building a relationship with her Bay Area community by doorknocking, calling, or emailing
families that already had their solar panels installed to help them monitor their systems and ensure they know how to use the panels.
On Earth Day this year, when Biden kicked off the American Climate Corps, Celi was at Richmond, California’s Unity Park with the rest of GRID’s outreach team, as well as other local community partners, to attract the public to their programs. As Celi saw local families engage with the event’s free bike repairs and free bicycle-powered smoothies, she realized the scope of her work—and how impactful that was.
“It really felt meaningful to see that we are directly connecting with the community and sharing these resources with one another,” she said.
After all, Richmond is home to a refinery from fossil fuel polluter Chevron. The industrial facility has been a source of air pollution for the predominantly Hispanic, Black, and Asian community. This is, in part, why GRID has been focused on communities of color, explained Adewale OgunBadejo, vice president of workforce development at the organization.
“How can we reduce the carbon footprint in the communities that we serve? How can we have less urban oil wells because they’re causing higher incidences and rates of cancer and asthma in these communities that we serve?” he said. “We’re helping our fellows make that environmental connection in a very real way so that as you’re installing and you’re looking at an urban drilling well across the street, you understand
that the more solar we can install, the more of those we can remove and create more healthy communities.”
Black, Indigenous, and other people of color bear the brunt of air pollution health impacts from dirty energy sources. In 2023, a group of researchers even coined the term “fossil fuel racism” to highlight the insidious ways the industry harms Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor populations. Communities of color are also less likely than their white peers to have installed solar panels onto their roofs. That’s where GRID comes in: The program’s solar panel installations from this year’s fellows alone have cut carbon dioxide emissions by over 78,000 tons—or nearly 15,000 cars taken off the road.
The SolarCorps program doesn’t only focus on bringing solar panels to people of color—it also prioritizes hiring this demographic as fellows, too. Among the past year’s 51 fellows, for instance, 80% identified as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color. Over half were women or nonbinary, 27% identified as LGBTQIA+, and some 26% have been affected by the justice system (mostly through incarceration). At the national level, the solar industry is dominated by white dudes: In 2022, 73% of the workforce was white and 69% male, according to an independent report. Celi, who is Filipino, experienced that diversity disparity firsthand when in January she attended her first industry conference, where, for the first time in her solar work, she was the minority.
“I’m very proud to have been able to attend and to create that change,” said Celi, who is also a member of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy, or WRISE, which is dedicated to cultivating women leaders in the industry.
The SolarCorps fellowship is just a tiny piece of the U.S. government’s wider American Climate Corps. Sociologist Dana Fisher, who is also the author of the book Saving Ourselves, has been researching the existing Corps programs that have been expanding and shifting to include climate change. Many of these adjustments were already in the works before the Biden administration’s formalization of the American Climate Corps.
Despite the existence of the Climate Corps, there’s no central agency or database tracking the integration of climate change into programs across the U.S. or following the fellows themselves after they complete their service. How many wind up in clean energy jobs? Do they leave these programs with a deeper understanding of how the planet’s rapid warming disrupts society? Fisher’s research on AmeriCorps has so far illuminated the reality that “there is no consensus about how the agency is doing its climate work,” she wrote in a paper published last month. There’s no consistent language used across AmeriCorps programs and, thus, no unified understanding of the climate crisis among program participants and leadership.
Fisher emphasized the need for more federal dollars to go toward analyzing all the varied American Climate Corps programs to assess whether the funding is doing what it’s supposed to do: educating young people (especially young people of color) about the climate crisis and placing them in jobs dedicated to building a cleaner, healthier, more equitable world.
“The infusion of money is absolutely valuable, but it’s impossible for me not to think about this without putting on my social sciences hat,” Fisher said. “The problem is that we don’t know how they’re helping because nobody is actually measuring that, and nobody is there evaluating it.”
GRID’s SolarCorps doesn’t have its own evaluation system, either. The group is working to build that out now that it’s hired a data analyst, OgunBadejo said. They’re hoping to track fellows three to 12 months after they graduate. As the program looks to expand into tribal nations and nearly 30 states like Texas and Michigan over the next few years, OgunBadejo recognizes the need to partner with local groups that know those communities best and can cater the programs to their needs.
With the hundreds of millions of dollars in grants the group has collaboratively received from the Inflation Reduction Act, they plan to work with others and bring their SolarCorps model to even more communities across the country that need access to affordable solar energy and the training to find jobs in the industry, too.
“Our approach as an organization is very holistic,” OgunBadejo said. “We really look at clean energy as a way to address environmental and economic justice.”
For too long, Black and Brown folks have been left out of the clean energy boom. SolarCorps is building an ecosystem where community members have the skills they need to transform their communities for the better— and get paid to do it.
Now, Fisher is following the rollout of a handful of programs in Vermont, Maryland, Michigan, and California where she has developed a climate-centric curriculum all of their American Climate Corps members will be required to take when their fellowships begin in September. She will be adding more states to the list later this year.
Photo by Raze Solar on Unsplash
About 5 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, California,avast swath of giant kelp-Macrocystis pyriferia, which can grow nearly 3 feet per day-sways just below the surface of one of the world’s first open-ocean seaweed farms.
Still in its research phase, the 86-acre project is operated by Ocean Rainforest, a company that aims to fight climate change by growing seaweed at scale: 1 million tons a year by 2030. Although an 86-acre terrestrial farm would be considered boutique, the Ocean Rainforest plot, floating in sight of the Channel Islands, represents a significant leap in size from the average U.S. seaweed farm of 1 to 4 acres-and a new frontier for ocean farming.
Supported by $6.2 million in Series A funding, for a total of $22 million from U.S. and European governments, grants, and venture capital, Ocean Rainforest also operates seaweed farms in the Faroe Islands and Iceland that supply the animal-feed, fertilizer, and cosmetic industries. The company’s goal of substantially decarbonizing these industries-with seaweed, instead of petroleum feedstocks, as raw materialdepends on the success of this farm. Growing seaweed in the open ocean, with room to exponentially expand, means the Ocean Rainforest team is tackling how to anchor crops in hundreds of feet of water, withstand intense weather, and monitor a farm that lies many miles from shore.
As Ocean Rainforest continues its research, the wider U.S. seaweed industry, still in its infancy, faces significant challenges. Several years of steady investment and scientific breakthroughs have helped it advance, but since 2023, funding has dropped precipitously, and so have retail prices for seaweedbased foods. In the meantime, a lack of government guidance by means of regulation and legislation makes it difficult for farms to gain traction. Seaweed is an extraordinary crop, offering multiple benefits to planetary and human health along with an array of business applications. But it’s fair to say that right now, the industry is having growing pains.
The Investment Slowdown In 2023, according to Phyconomy, a database that tracks the seaweed economy, seaweed funding in the U.S. abruptly began to sink, dwin-
Seaweed farming works toward a greener future
By Alexandra Talty for Civil Eats.
Broadcast version by Suzanne
Potter
for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration
dling from a peak of about $100 million in 2022 to just $8 million for 2024 so far.
“We are in what I call the ‘valley of disappointment,’” says Steven Hermans, who founded Phyconomy. American investors have become more sophisticated about startup investments, including in seaweed, he says. A few years ago, he adds, “They didn’t know anything, and they were like, ‘OK, we’ll toss a couple of million into this.’ Then, Everyone kept their money in their pockets during high inflation . . . [and] people realized . . . it will take a long time to build a market for American-grown kelp. Now they’re asking better questions, and that will ultimately lead to better investments.”
But for some companies, that won’t matter. Since Civil Eats began this reporting project nearly a year ago, two of the largest and most well-known American kelp businesses have gone under: Running Tide, a carbon capture company, and AKUA, maker of kelp burgers.
Founded in 2017 by Marty Odlin, the Maine-based Running Tide was one of the most well-funded kelp companies in the U.S. before it shut down abruptly in June 2024. As its website stated, Running Tide aimed to build “humanity’s operating system for the ocean,” drawing down carbon via seaweed-inoculated wood chips. Seaweed naturally absorbs carbon as it grows, but unless it is harvested, it decomposes and releases carbon back. The chips, on the other hand, would sink to the deep ocean to decay, storing the carbon there for thousands of years, according to Odlin. Running Tide’s revenue goal was to sell carbon removal credits to companies interested in decreasing their carbon footprint.
Running Tide garnered $54 million in Series B investments, including from Lowercarbon Capital, in 2022. In June of that year, an article in the MIT Technology Review questioned Running Tide’s farming and business practices. Meanwhile, the company prepared to relocate to Iceland, having persuaded the Icelandic government to approve its wood-chip sinking. In fall 2023, Running Tide sank 19,000 tons of wood chips into the ocean, selling the world’s first marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) credits to Microsoft and Shopify as part of a voluntary carbon market not regulated by government. In less
than a year, the company shut down as criticism about its practices continued to swirl; Odlin cited a lack of American government support for the voluntary carbon market as the reason for the closure.
Although $54 million represented a fraction of the $380 million overall investment in the seaweed industry, some think the carbon-sink goal was too narrow, and overlooked all that seaweed could offer. “The long-term [carbon sink] potential attracted a swarm of speculators that took the industry in the wrong direction,” says Bren Smith, founder of GreenWave, a forerunner in the ocean farming movement. GreenWave received roughly $6 million in 2021.
Smith believes that the dip in carbon-fueled funding will encourage the industry to embrace seaweed’s many uses-as a good food for humans and animals, as a game-changing alternative to chemical- and carbonintensive industries like fertilizers or plastics, and for its proven ecosystem benefits. Also, seaweed doesn’t need arable terrestrial land, likely to diminish as wildfires and extreme weather events like drought increase. “I don’t know if it’s 100 years or five years, but we’re gonna be growing huge amounts of food underwater,” he predicts.
Lack of Federal Funding
The slump in private investment isn’t the only financial challenge for seaweed. Scant federal funding adds to the struggle. In Europe, many ocean startups receive government support, according to Ronald Tardiff, Ocean Innovation Lead at the World Economic Forum, whereas in the U.S., most government funding goes to research institutions rather than for-profit companies. (The Department of Energy, an important source of research funding dating back decades, contributed some $20 million to seaweed research in the 1970s through its MARINER program, and continues to support science; see “Seaweed Investments by Category” below.)
“The E.U. has spent . . . . hundreds of millions of euros on R & D related to seaweed, in a way that the U.S. has not. And many startups have benefited from those E.U. projects,” says Tardiff, pointing out that Ocean Rainforest, a for-profit entity, has received extensive E.U. funding. In China and Korea, where seaweed farming first developed into a
larger industry, governments provide kelp seed to farmers for free or at a subsidized cost. The lack of state support in the U.S., says Tardiff, also means the American seaweed market is more tied to market fluctuations than its Asian and European competitors.
The paucity of both private and government funding makes it harder for seaweed companies to handle the high cost of farming and processing. “The ocean is uniquely expensive to operate on,” says Tardiff, who also serves as the Lighthouse Lead of 1000 Ocean Startups, a global coalition of incubators, accelerators, competitions, matching platforms, and VCs that have pledged to back at least 1,000 “transformative” startups by 2030.
Basic seaweed farming equipment, like a boat, costs anywhere from $30,000 to $500,000; a single seaweedline anchor-and a farm needs multiple-can cost $1,000. Also, because kelp is unusually perishable, it requires million-dollar investments in infrastructure equipment, like specialized dehydrators and freezers, to render it shelf-stable. Much of it is custom-built for this new food business.
Retail Slump Meets Inflation
Declining investment has hit kelp food companies particularly hard, since they’re also dealing with shrinking grocery-store revenues, especially for consumer packaged goods (CPG)-which includes most seaweed foods. Also, high inflation rates mean a seaweed snack or seasoning won’t do as well; when food prices are up overall, consumers are less likely to spend on foods that aren’t familiar.
Describing the current CPG market as “brutal,” Courtney Boyd, founder of AKUA kelp burger company, closed her operation this August. Boyd founded her kelp company in 2016, supported by GreenWave, and for a while it was thriving: She raised $4.5 million in funding from 2020 to 2024, according to Phyconomy. Looking back, Boyd regrets not having invested in farming, instead buying kelp wholesale from middlemen. She eventually began working directly with farmers in 2023, but it was too little, too late.
“With an inflationary environment, if you are a consumer-package company and you don’t have a lot of oversight in terms of what’s happening with the supply chain, you’re in trouble when times are challenging,” says Julia Paino of Desert Bloom Foods, a food investing firm.
Boyd’s company will be taken over by the Maine Family Seafarm Coop, run by Ken Sparta, one of Boyd’s partner farmers. The co-op plans to focus on direct-to-restaurant sales and piggyback off their existing oyster-selling infrastructure, avoiding the cost and complication of grocerystore sales entirely.
A Patchwork of Regulations
While investment in seaweed is lagging, so is America’s regulatory framework. Each state has its own rules around seaweed farming. In Maine, for instance, farmers can only operate on leases after a period of public comment followed by approval, and only if the leases do not interfere with existing maritime operations. In Alaska, seaweed farmers can only cultivate seaweed varieties that grow
natively within 50 kilometers of their farm. In California, no regulatory pathway even exists for seaweed farming in state waters. All commercial seaweed farms are on land. Unlike terrestrial farming, no federal laws govern or guide ocean farming. Nor is there any federal tracking of seaweed landings, despite the edible seaweed business being worth nearly $2 billion in the U.S. This stands in stark contrast to terrestrial farming: At any given time, a citizen can look up exactly how much of a crop is grown, to the acre, on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website, going back to the 1900s. This information is intimately tied to subsidies like the farm bill, which provides support to American farming industries like corn, soy, or pork. Without the clear picture that tracking provides, it’s harder for money to flow.
In the case of seaweed, four federal agencies touch seaweed, but only lightly: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose regional offices are responsible for permitting every single seaweed farm in the U.S., but not for following up once those farms are established; the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which funds seaweed projects and education and tracks landings for fish and aquaculture, but not seaweed; USDA, which helps fund seaweed farms, on a limited basis, but doesn’t regulate them; and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates imported seaweed products and domestic seaweed-but only if
At Ocean Rainforest’s Santa Barbara research farm, giant kelp grows at different depths on horizontal lines strung between buoys. | Photo courtesy of Ocean Rainforest
it’s part of a pharmaceutical product. The U.S. Coast Guard, responsible for mapping fisheries and other structures in the water, does not yet map seaweed farms.
With no single federal agency having oversight, and few guidelines on either the state or federal level, seaweed companies and farmers are left in limbo.
Sunken Seaweed, one of California’s two commercial seaweed farms, has dealt with limbo for years now. Farmer Torre Polizzi raises dulse-a rich, meaty-tasting red seaweed favored by health-conscious consumers for its nutritional propertiesin tanks on Humboldt Bay, in Northern California. California has no permitting process for seaweed farms in state waters, which extend anywhere from 3 to 12 nautical miles from land-an unsurmountable distance for most farmers. So, Polizzi is unable to grow his seaweed in the ocean, although dulse is native to the nutrient-rich, cold Pacific.
“That is where 99.9 percent of companies hit a wall in this industry in California,” says Polizzi, the rush of pumped seawater humming in the tanks behind him. Each of his 10 tanks holds 1,200 gallons of constantly bubbling seawater, which tumbles the seaweed so it photosynthesizes more evenly.
Polizzi considers himself lucky to have found a home for his seaweed at all. He and his wife spent five years trying to find a location in California for their farm. They are able to pump saltwater from the ocean, crucial for a land-based seaweed company, through a relationship with Hog Island, the Northern California oyster restaurant and market, which already has a salt-water pumping permit for its oyster operation.
The California Coastal Commission, which oversees the permits, has not issued any new pumping permits in many years. In exchange for the seawater, Polizzi helps oversee a research bull kelp site for Hog Island, Greenwave, and The Nature Conservancy (permitted in the bay because it not commercial).
Even selling his fresh dulse and dried seaweed flakes at the local farmers’ market was a battle: It took Polizzi six months of petitioning California’s legislature to allow seaweed as a “cottage food,” saleable at farmers’ markets.
“We are here in California. We have some of the best marine science institutions in the world,” says Polizzi. “We have the ability and tech to create the cleanest [seaweed farms] in the world. But we can’t implement them.”
Seaweed at Scale
Most of America’s seaweed growers are small operations near the shore. Ocean Rainforest’s “seaweed island” is miles from land and dwarfs them by several degrees of magnitude. It does share a similar growing technique with smaller farms, setting out buoys that support horizontal lines, inoculated with kelp, that then sprout fronds and grow under the sunlight. Instead of a few lines, though, there are hundreds here, arranged in immense grids under the ocean surface.
As a research farm, Ocean Rainforest is testing various seeding methods, grow depths, and length and spacing of lines to create a model that’s efficient, economical, and replicable. They need to be able to monitor the site from shore and created an intricate buoy system so that they can see from the coast if anything disturbed their seaweed lines overnight or after bad weather. The company is also developing a harvesting machine that will reap the seaweed “using minimum cost and time.”
If this project, set in a federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)-a strip of water that can stretch from 3 to 200 miles offshore-is successful, other farms could begin putting buoys in EEZs as well. The U.S. boasts the most EEZs in the world, a whopping 3.4 million square miles. That’s a lot of ocean to potentially cultivate.
“There is no silver bullet when it comes to climate change, but seaweed can be part of that solution,” says Eliza Harrison, until recently the director of California operations at Ocean Rainforest. Proponents of openocean farming say large-scale operations in EEZs could fulfill sustainability goals that smaller farms closer to shore can’t: namely, substantial water bioremediation and enough raw material to supplant petroleum products in plastics and fuel. “Can you take this biomass that is naturally growing, can you cultivate it and then use it as a food and feed product, or use it as a way to improve people’s well-being?” says Harrison.
While smallholder seaweed farms can boost maritime economies and provide job alternatives to commercial fishing, the lower quantities they yield makes it difficult to justify millions of investment in infrastructure. Additionally, seaweed from smaller farms wholesales at around $1 to $2 a pound, according to industry experts, a price that’s not competitive in industries like plastics or textiles, where raw materials can start at $.70 (for PET polyethelene) or $.67 (for cotton) per pound. Large-scale farmed U.S. seaweed has yet
Seaweed
to be marketed, but experts say that larger, automatedharvest farms could price their raw kelp more competitively, hitting below the $1 mark.
Replacing fossil fuelderived plastics, a major contributor to global warming, with a climatepositive material like seaweed seems like a no-brainer. But some scientists have serious concerns about scaling up kelp farms. For one thing, huge kelp monocultures could threaten native kelp forests, responsible for drawing down a large portion of the world’s carbon-around 56 million tons annually, according to a new study by Plymouth Marine Laboratory. That’s equivalent to taking nearly 13 million cars off the road a year. Even more staggering, marine algae produces 50 percent of the world’s oxygen.
That threat has already surfaced in China, which farms most of the world’s kelp. In 2021, seaweed farming in the Northern Jiangsu Shoal, combined with warmer waters and human pollution, helped create green tides that sucked up oxygen and suffocated marine species for 81 days. Pests and bacteria infections are concerns, and so is the introduction of non-native seaweeds that could crowd out the native ones, or introduce new, disease-causing microorganisms. If the U.S. were to allow thousands of acres of farms in the EEZs, could that affect already suffering kelp forests in states like Maine and California?
These kinds of questions, and the fact that the industry is still new and evolving, say some experts, may explain why state and federal agencies and policymakers have been taking their time with guidelines. Rules laid down now could protect-or jeopardize-seaweed in U.S. waters. Those rules could also determine whether small seaweed farms will play an important and valued role in America’s future, or begin to vanish, replaced by ever larger farms, repeating the history of farming on land.
The Beginnings of a Roadmap for Kelp Slowly, some regulations are starting to take shape. A few states are beginning to safeguard against potential monoculture impact on wild kelp stocks. In Alaska, a “50-50 rule” protecting seaweed diversity requires every farm to collect its reproductive tissue for breeding kelp from at least 50 different plants, within 50 kilometers surrounding the farm. Maine mandates that farmers cultivate seaweed strains that are native to the state.
There’s action at the federal level, too. A bill proposed in Congress in 2023,
the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act, would direct the USDA and NOAA to establish an Indigenous seaweed farming fund to help Native Americans continue cultivating a food that has sustained them for thousands of years. The act would also create a joint study on how to responsibly scale seaweed in the U.S., and implement regulations based on those findings that would protect marine environments, measure the impacts and benefits of seaweed farming, and establish guidelines for monitoring farms.
Another bill, the Sustaining Healthy Ecosystems, Livelihoods, and Local Seafood Act-known as the SHELLS Act-proposes that the USDA create an office of aquaculture to promote funding, create regulations to guide the industry, and more. “The SHELLS Act is a crucial step toward enhancing U.S. food security and environmental sustainability through responsible aquaculture practices,” said co-sponsor Congressman Nicholas LaLota (R-NY) in an email. His district is home to the state’s first commercial seaweed farming operation and a thriving Indigenous seaweed farming co-op.
If passed, the SHELLS Act would create a federal
body that could help seaweed farming evolve responsibly; the Advisory Committee, according to language in the bill, would “acknowledge the history, use, and preservation of Indigenous and traditional aquaculture practices and ecological knowledge.”
Mapping of seaweed farmscritical for maritime navigation and, potentially, wildlife corridors if large swaths of the country’s EEZs are cultivated-could become a requirement.
The bill might incentivize a new round of investors, since seaweed harvest could be tracked just as simply as corn or soy. And it might give small farmers a boost.
“Shellfish harvesters and seaweed farmers play an essential role in our food supply, but historically they haven’t received the support they need to reach their full potential,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), the bill’s lead sponsor, in a press release.
The SHELLS act, she said, “will help shellfish harvesters and seaweed farmers grow their small businesses while expanding blue carbon ecosystems that help address the climate crisis.”
The past two years have been undeniably difficult for the seaweed industry, says
Julia Paino of food investor Desert Bloom Foods. However, she sees promise in this ocean crop; it reminds her of how tofu came to the U.S. in the 1980s. She would know-that’s when her father brought the unknown food to American shores with his company Nasoya, convincing thousands of Americans to try a very healthy, unfamiliar food that was immensely popular in Asia, and ultimately to build the platforms and infrastructure that enabled its success.
“There’s a lot of similarities . . . You have something that’s been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, right? This is not a novel ingredient source that was just created in the lab. This isn’t cultured meat. This is something that is steeped in significant cultural history, [with] a lot of tremendous health benefits, and now we know, also planetary benefits. It’s a matter of helping educate consumers, right?” says Paino. “So, there’s even more opportunity, I think, around what can be done with kelp. You’ll continue to see excitement across a lot of investors-hopefully coming from a more informed place of, ‘What is it? How is it grown? What’s the type of infrastructure you need for it to thrive and be successful?’”
California tribes call for national monuments at world biodiversity conference
By Suzanne Potter, Producer, Public News Service
Last week, more than 100 Californians were in Cali, Columbia, for the 16th United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity.
Tribes, policymakers and conservation groups promoted national monument status for three sites in the Golden State.
Lena Ortega, a Kw’tsán cultural committee member for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, wants federal protection for the proposed Kw’tsán National Monument
in Imperial County. “The movement to save the environment isn’t a choice for us,” Ortega explained. “It’s a matter of survival and our past healings are intertwined with that of Mother Earth. We are the land. The land is us.”
California has already lost more than 20% of its native species and more than 600 species are considered threatened with extinction.
Asm. Matt Haney, D-San
Francisco, said California is working hard to achieve the goal to protect 30% of state and federal land and waters by the year 2030.
“California is home to more native plants, animals, and more invasive species, than any other state,” Haney pointed out.
Brandy McDaniels, Sáttítla National Monument Campaign lead for the Pit River Tribe, said time is running out for the administration to declare the
Sáttítla National Monument in northeastern California.
“With less than three months left in President Biden’s term, now is the time for the president to use his authority by designating Sattitla as a national monument for all future generations,” McDaniels urged.
Tribes are also calling for a new Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park.
Report: CA Latinos fishing for subsistence eat twice the legal limit of mercury
By Suzanne Potter, Producer, Public News Service
Hispanic families who fish to put food on the table are disproportionately affected by mercury, which accumulates in seafood in Southern California.
Surveys at 10 piers in Los Angeles and Orange counties found 60% of the anglers were Latino and native Spanish speakers, and 78% of them were fishing to feed their families.
Sofia Barboza, ocean manager for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said the families are exposed to toxins in fish from polluted waters.
“We found that Hispanic anglers in California are actually ingesting an average of 13.9 micrograms of mercury per day via fish consumption that they had caught in local waters,” Barboza reported. “This is double the amount of mercury that has been determined as safe by the EPA.”
Fish with high mercury levels have also been found in the Bay Area, the Central Coast near Humboldt and Deer Creek. A newlyreleased report from the foundation about Latinos in U.S. fisheries found 5% of Latinos in California, or about 785,000 people, work in the agricultural, forestry, fishing, hunting and mining
sectors. But no research yet exists to determine how many Latinos are in commercial fishing.
Barboza suggested the warning signs about pollution at the piers, as well as government websites, should be translated into Spanish.
“Even though 28% of the California population speaks Spanish, the California Fish and Wildlife Department fishing regulations are not provided in Spanish on their website,” Barboza pointed out. “Something we would like to see moving forward.”
The report also recom-
mends stronger oversight of commercial fishing companies hiring Hispanic migrant workers on H2B visas to ensure they receive fair wages, safe working conditions and access to safe housing.
Disclosure: The Hispanic Access Foundation contributes to Public News Service’s fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Environment, Human Rights/Racial Justice, and Livable Wages/ Working Families. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, visit https://www.publicnewsservice.org/dn1.php.
Consumer groups slam California Supreme Court ruling on lemon law
By Suzanne Potter, Producer, Public News Service
Millions of Californians buy used cars still under a manufacturer’s warranty - but consumer groups say those warranties are now essentially unenforceable. It’s the result of a ruling Thursday by the California State Supreme Court. The panel of judges agreed with car manufacturers that the state’s so-called “lemon law” only applies to new cars.
“You won’t be able to tell the manufacturer, ‘Hey, you have to fix my car or I want a refund.’ The manufacturer can just blow you off,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of the nonprofit Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.
Owners of these used vehicles could be faced with big unanticipated repair bills if the manufacturer opts not to honor the remainder of the warranty. The court ruling means they will no longer have a right to a refund or replacement vehicle.
Shahan said she thinks that now the California
Legislature should step in. She said other states already have acted to better protect used-car buyers.
“A number of other states have used car ‘lemon laws,’ where they mandate warranties,” she said, “and they say if you pay a certain amount for a used car, that the warranty has to last for a certain period of
time, and you have the right to get a refund or replacement.”
The case, Rodriguez v. Fiat Chrysler of America Inc., has been in litigation for several years. Lemon-law experts say it is unclear whether this decision covers what are known as “certified” used vehicles - promoted by the manufacturers as “like new.”
Disclosure: Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety Foundation contributes to Public News Service’s fund for reporting on Consumer Issues, Environmental Justice, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, visit https:// www.publicnewsservice.org/ dn1.php.
Chuckwalla National Monument. | Photo by benmacaskill CC BY 2.0
Latino anglers bait their hooks in Imperial Beach, California.
| Photo courtesy of Hispanic Access Foundation
Probate Notices
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ROY GENE BALENTINE aka ROY BALENTINE
Case No. 24STPB11627
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ROY GENE BALENTINE aka ROY BALENTINE
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Sonja Leigh Ellisor in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Sonja Leigh Ellisor be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)
The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on Nov. 13, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 2D located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: GRACE LIM-AYERS ESQ SBN321004 THE WERNER LAW FIRM 27433 TOURNEY RD STE 200 SANTA CLARITA CA 91355 CN111309 BALENTINE Oct 28,31, Nov 4, 2024 SAN GABRIEL SUN
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF Brian Hung Tsui aka Hung Quoc Tu CASE NO. 24STPB10885
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: Brian Hung Tsui aka Hung Quoc Tu
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Kevin Khoanh Tu in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Kevin Khoanh Tu be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with full authority (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived
notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on 12/06/2024 at 8:30AM in Dept. 4 located at 111 N. HILL ST. LOS ANGELES CA 90012 STANLEY MOSK COURTHOUSE.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner: Andrew Vo, SBN: 342598 8748 E. Valley Blvd, Suite M Rosemead, CA 91770
Telephone: (626) 288-1496 10/28, 10/31, 11/4/24 CNS-3865228# EL MONTE EXAMINER
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: CYNTHIA MAE THOMPSON CASE NO. 24STPB12081
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of CYNTHIA MAE THOMPSON.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by PATRIZIA RENATE THOMPSON in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that PATRIZIA RENATE THOMPSON be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)
The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/05/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 44 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
LEGALS
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner
ERIN M. ANDERSON - SBN 225803
LAW OFFICE OF ERIN M. ANDERSON
5152 KATELLA AVENUE #104 LOS ALAMITOS CA 90720
Telephone (562) 546-2128
BSC 225974 10/31, 11/4, 11/7/24
CNS-3866000# AZUSA BEACON
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF LYDIA PORRAS
Case No. 24STPB11939
To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of LYDIA PORRAS
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Stephani L. Bouvet in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Stephani L. Bouvet be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)
The independent administra-tion authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objec-tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on Nov. 21, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 67 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your ap-pearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowl-edgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner:
MOLLY B PITRUZZELLI ESQ SBN 271279
GIRARDI LAW 2425 MISSION STREET STE 1 SAN MARINO CA 91108
CN111340 PORRAS
Oct 31, Nov 4,7, 2024 SAN GABRIEL SUN
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF STACI LYNN McFARLAND
Case No. 24STPB212173
To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of STACI LYNN McFARLAND
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Kimberly McFarland Skonos in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGE-
LES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Kimberly McFarland Skonos be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)
The independent administra-tion authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objec-tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on Dec. 4, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 9 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your ap-pearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowl-edgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: LEONARD M TAVERA ESQ SBN 127070 SEMPER LAW GROUP LLP 330 N BRAND BLVD STE 670 GLENDALE CA 91203 CN111351 MCFARLAND Nov 4,7,11, 2024 EL MONTE EXAMINER
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: VALENTIN RODRIGUEZ, JR. AKA VALENTIN RODRIGUEZ AKA VAL RODRIGUEZ CASE NO. 24STPB12020
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of VALENTIN RODRIGUEZ, JR. AKA VALENTIN RODRIGUEZ AKA VAL RODRIGUEZ. A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by VALARIE MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that VALARIE MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with limited authority. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/02/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 99 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appear-
ance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner
JAY OBERHOLTZER - SBN 72127
JAY OBERHOLTZER, APLC 15111 E. WHITTIER BLVD., #445 WHITTIER CA 90603
Telephone (562) 945-2838 10/31, 11/4, 11/7/24 CNS-3866879# EL MONTE EXAMINER
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
CONRAD VALDEZ ARGUIJO AKA CONRAD V. ARGUIJO CASE NO. 24STPB12221
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of CONRAD VALDEZ ARGUIJO AKA CONRAD V. ARGUIJO.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by CONRAD JOSEPH ARGUIJO in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that CONRAD JOSEPH ARGUIJO be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)
The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/05/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 62 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner CORY A. OLIVER - SBN 325425 OLIVER LAW, A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
730 N. NORMA, SUITE B
RIDGECREST CA 93555
Telephone (760) 977-3025 11/4, 11/7, 11/11/24 CNS-3867077#
ROSEMEAD READER
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: ELVIRA ANAYA GOMEZ CASE NO. 24STPB12206
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of ELVIRA ANAYA GOMEZ.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by ELOISE MEJIA REYES AND JEFF WILLIAM LEBLANC in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that ELOISE MEJIA REYES AND JEFF WILLIAM LEBLANC be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with limited authority. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/09/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 62 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner MARSHAL A OLDMAN - SBN 72149 OLDMAN, SALLUS & GOLD, LLP 16133 VENTURA BLVD., PENTHOUSE ENCINO CA 91436
Telephone (818) 986-8080 11/4, 11/7, 11/11/24 CNS-3867304# EL MONTE EXAMINER
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF JERRY DUANE DOONER
Case No. 24STPB11175
To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of JERRY DUANE DOONER A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Rudolfo Zeledon in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Rudolfo Zeledon be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very
LEGALS
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Glendale City Notices
NOTICE INVITING BIDS
NOTICE is hereby given that the City of Glendale (“City”) will receive sealed Bids, before the Bid Deadline established below for the following work of improvement: GLENDALE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS ON ARTSAKH AVENUE SPECIFICATION NO.3893R
Bid Deadline: Submit before 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 (“the Bid Deadline”)
Original Bid to be submitted to:
Office of City Clerk
613 E. Broadway, Room 110 Glendale, CA 91206
Bid Opening: 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 City Council Chambers
613 E. Broadway, 2nd Floor Glendale, CA 91206
NO LATE BIDS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Bidding Documents Available: October 23, 2024, at the Public Works Engineering Department, 633 E. Broadway, Room 205, City of Glendale, CA 91206
Bidding documents are also available to view and download online at: https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/finance/purchasing/rfp-rfq-bid-page
Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference: N/A
City of Glendale Contact Person: Huang Zheng, Project Manager Phone: 818-548-3945 Fax: 818-242-7087
E-mail: hzheng@glendaleca.gov
Mandatory Qualifications for Bidder and Designated Subcontractors:
A Bid may be rejected as non-responsive if the Bid fails to document that Bidder meets the essential requirements for qualification. As part of the Bidder’s Statement of Qualifications, each Bid must provide satisfactory evidence that: Bidder satisfactorily completed as a prime contractor or subcontractor at least (4) prevailing wage public contracts in California; each comparable in scope and scale to this Project, within { (5) years prior to the Bid Deadline and with a dollar value in excess of the Bid submitted for this Project. In addition, if the Bidder intends to self-perform the Signage Contractor, Bidder shall satisfy the mandatory qualifications described in the Specialty Contractor’s Statement of Qualifications (starting at page F-23) applicable to such Work and submit the completed forms with the Bid.
Subcontractors listed for the Signage Contractor Work must satisfy the mandatory qualifications described in the Specialty Contractor’s Statement of Qualifications (staring on page F-23) applicable to the Work to be performed by each Subcontractor and Bidder must submit the completed forms with the Bid.
General Scope of Work:
Contractor shall furnish labor, materials, equipment, services, and specialized skills to perform work involved in the Project. The Work included in the Bid is defined in accordance with Specifications No. 3893R and Plan Nos. 1-3095, SSF-3095, PLA-3095, IRR-3095, PG-3095, WS-3095, 49-251, 50-685, 50-686, 50-687 and GWP00638AA. The work generally includes: the removal and disposal of asphalt and Portland cement concrete pavements, removal and salvage of existing pavers to be reused; the grading and preparation of subgrade; the construction of new concrete curbs, sidewalks, and curb ramps, removing and hauling away of grindings; the removal of existing trees; relocating existing trees, new shrub and tree plantings;: the reconstruction of irrigation mainline and lateral connections; the reconstruction of electrical lines for street lighting, the relocations of water meters and fire hydrants; the construction of sidewalk extension and accent shade structures, counters and benches; installation of site furnishings; as shown on the project plans and specifications, Standard Plans for Public Works Construction (SPPWC 2021 Edition), and the Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction (2021 Edition), including all supplements thereto issued prior to bid opening date.
Other Bidding Information: Number of Contract Working Days: 180 Working Days Amount of Liquidated Damages: $6,700 per Calendar Day Required Construction Staging: Six Phases, See Special Condition Section 6 Other Bidding Information:
1. Bidding Documents: Bids must be made on the Bidder’s Proposal form contained herein. Bidding Documents may be obtained in the Public Works Engineering Department, 633 E. Broadway, Room 205, Glendale, CA 91206 where they may be examined. Electronic copy of bidding documents can be obtained at no cost from: https://www.glendaleca.gov/ government/departments/finance/purchasing/rfp-rfq-bid-page. Future addendums, if any will be available for download on the same page as the bidding documents. The city will not mail/deliver the addendums to the prospective bidders. It is the bidders’ sole responsibility to check the website to obtain future addendums to this bid documents.
2. Engineer’s Estimate. The preliminary cost of construction of this Work has been prepared. The estimate is in the range of $ 7.25M to $7.5M
3. Completion: This Work must be completed within one-hundred-eighty Working days from the Date of Commencement as established by the City’s written Notice to Proceed.
4. Acceptance or Rejection of Bids. The City reserves the right to reject any and all Bids, to award all or any individual part/item of the Bid, and to waive any informalities, irregularities or technical defects in such Bids and determine the lowest responsible Bidder, whichever may be in the best interests of the City. No late Bids will be accepted, nor will any oral, facsimile or electronic Bids be accepted by the City.
5. Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference and Job Walk. A mandatory pre-bid conference and job walk is not required.
6. Contractor License At the time of the Bid Deadline and at all times during performance of the Work, including full completion of all corrective work during the Correction Period, the Contractor must possess a California contractor license or licenses, current and active, of the classification required for the Work, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 9, Division 3, Section 7000 et seq. of the Business and Professions Code. In compliance with Public Contract Code Section 3300, the City has determined that the Bidder must possess the following license(s):
• a. Pursuant to Section 3300, of the Public Contract Code, the classification of the bidder’s Contractor’s License shall be “Class A”. Failure of a bidder to obtain adequate licensing at the time the contract is awarded shall constitute a failure to execute the Contract and shall result in the forfeiture of the Bidder’s Bond. The successful Bidder will not receive a Contract award if
Bidder submits its Bid to the City, the Bidder must list each Subcontractor whom the Bidder must disclose under Public Contract Code Section 4104 (Subcontractor Listing Law), and the Bidder must provide all of the Subcontractor information that Section 4104 requires (name, the location (address) of the Subcontractor’s place of business, California Contractor license number, California Department of Industrial Relations contractor registration number, and portion of the Work). In addition, the City requires that the Bidder list the dollar value of each Subcontractor’s labor or services The City’s disqualification of a Subcontractor does not disqualify a Bidder. However, prior to and as a condition to award of the Contract, the successful Bidder shall substitute a properly licensed and qualified Subcontractor— without an adjustment of the Bid Amount.
8. Permits, Inspections, Plan Checks, Governmental Approvals, Utility Fees and Similar Authorizations: The City has applied and paid for the following Governmental Approvals and Utility Fees:
Artsakh Ave. Fire Modification (FMOD2110967)
Electrical Spot Service All other Governmental Approvals and Utility Fees shall be obtained and paid for by Contractor and will be reimbursed based on Contractor’s actual direct cost without markup.
See Instructions to Bidders Paragraph 14, and General Conditions Paragraph 1.01 for definitions and Paragraph 1.03 for Contractor responsibilities.
9. Bid Forms and Bid Security: Each Bid must be made on the Bid Forms obtainable from the City’s Bidding website listed in the paragraph 1 above. Each Bid shall be accompanied by a cashier’s check or certified check drawn on a solvent bank, payable to “City of Glendale,” for an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the total maximum amount of the Bid. Alternatively, a satisfactory corporate surety Bid Bond for an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the total maximum amount of the Bid may accompany the Bid. Said security shall serve as a guarantee that the successful Bidder, within fourteen (14) calendar days after the City’s Notice of Award of the Contract, will enter into a valid contract with the City for said Work in accordance with the Contract Documents.
10. Bid Irrevocability Bids shall remain open and valid for ninety (90) calendar days after the Bid Deadline.
11. Substitution of Securities. Pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 22300, substitution of securities for withheld funds is permitted in accordance therewith.
12. Prevailing Wage Resolution. Bidders are hereby notified that in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code of the State of California, the City Council of the City has ascertained and determined by Resolution No. 18,626 (as amended), the general prevailing rate of per diem wages of a similar character in the locality in which the Work is performed and the general prevailing rate for legal holiday and overtime Work for each craft or type of worker needed in the execution of agreements with the City. Said resolution is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and is hereby incorporated and made a part hereof by the same as though fully set forth herein. Copies of said resolution may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk.
13. California Department of Industrial Relations ― Public Works Contractor Registration.
Beginning July 1, 2014, under the Public Works Contractor Registration Law (California Senate Bill No. 854 - See Labor Code Section 1725.5), contractors must register and meet requirements using the online application https://efiling.dir.ca.gov/PWCR/ActionServlet?ac tion=displayPWCRegistrationForm before bidding on public works contracts in California. The application also provides agencies that administer public works programs with a searchable database of qualified contractors. Application and renewal are completed online with a non-refundable fee of $300. More information is available at the following links: http://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSE/PublicWorks/SB854FactSheet_6.30.14.pdf http://www.dir.ca.gov/Public-Works/PublicWorks.html
Beginning April 1, 2015, the City must award public works projects only to contractors and subcontractors who comply with the Public Works Contractor Registration Law. Notice to Bidders and Subcontractors:
• No contractor or subcontractor may be listed on a Bid proposal for a public works project (submitted on or after March 1, 2015) unless registered with the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to Labor Code Section 1725.5 [with limited exceptions from this requirement for bid purposes only under Labor Code Section 1771.1(a)].
• No contractor or subcontractor may be awarded a contract for public work on a public works project (awarded on or after April 1, 2015) unless registered with the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to Labor Code Section 1725.5.
• This Project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations.
• The prime contractor must post job site notices prescribed by regulation. (See 8 Calif. Code Reg. Section 16451(d) for the notice that previously was required for projects monitored by the DIR Compliance Monitoring Unit.)
Furnishing of Electronic Certified Payroll Records to Labor Commissioner. For all new projects awarded on or after April 1, 2015 contractors and subcontractors must furnish electronic certified payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner (aka Division of Labor Standards Enforcement).
Dated this 4, 7 day of November, 2024, City of Glendale, California.
Dr. Suzie Abajian, PhD, City Clerk of the City of Glendale
Published November 4, 7, 2024
GLENDALE INDEPENDENT
Probate Notices
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF DAVID G. SCHULENBERG Case No. 24STPB11595
To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of DAVID G. SCHULENBERG
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Christopher G. Schu-lenberg and Gretchen Schulenberg in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Christopher G. Schu-lenberg and Gretchen Schulenberg be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will
dent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issu-ance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for petitioner: WENDY E HARTMANN ESQ SBN204587
LAW OFFICES OF WENDY HARTMANN 400 N HOLLYWOOD WAY STE 206 BURBANK CA 91505 CN111318 SCHULENBERG Oct 28,31, Nov 4, 2024 GLENDALE INDEPENDENT
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ANGEL MARIA VALDES Case No. 24STPB11596
To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ANGEL MARIA VALDES A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Angela De La Caridad Valdes in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Angela De La Caridad Valdes be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administra-tion authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objec-tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on Nov. 14, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 4 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your ap-pearance may be in person or by your attorney.
allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administra-tion authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objec-tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on Nov. 13, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 9 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your ap-pearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the dece-
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issu-ance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for petitioner: WENDY E HARTMANN ESQ SBN204587
LAW OFFICES OF WENDY HART-
91505
CN111319 VALDES
Oct 28,31, Nov 4, 2024
GLENDALE INDEPENDENT
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: CYNTHIA TURNER CASE NO. 24STPB11951
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of CYNTHIA TURNER.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by JOHN TURNER in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that JOHN TURNER be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 11/22/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 2D located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner SONE A. TATIYANTS - SBN 239581 SVETLANA KALGANOVA - SBN 239590 LYNK LAW, INC. 1025 N. BRAND BLVD., SUITE 225 GLENDALE CA 91202 Telephone (818) 956-9200 10/28, 10/31, 11/4/24 CNS-3865178# BURBANK INDEPENDENT
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: ANTONIO HINOJOS CASE NO. 24STPB11816 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of ANTONIO HINOJOS.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with limited authority.
(This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/03/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 44 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner EMILY EBINER, ESQ. - SBN 348101
EBINER LAW OFFICE
100 N. CITRUS STREET, #520 WEST COVINA CA 91791
Telephone (626) 918-9000
10/28, 10/31, 11/4/24 CNS-3865294# WEST COVINA PRESS
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
JULIE GRIFFITH SELDERS
CASE NO. 24STPB10805
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of JULIE GRIFFITH SELDERS.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by KATHRYN KNIGHT in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that KATHRYN KNIGHT be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests the decedent’s WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The WILL and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows:
01/13/25 at 8:30AM in Dept. 67 lo-
cated at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the
court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner
CHRISTOPHER JAMES MURTAGH - SBN 296908 K & M LAW GROUP 155 N. LAKE AVENUE, STE. 800 PASADENA CA 91101
Telephone (323) 531-8505 BSC 225968 10/31, 11/4, 11/7/24 CNS-3865688# PASADENA PRESS
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: CLAY JAMES LANDENBERGER, JR. AKA CLAY JAMES LANDENBERGER CASE NO. 30-2024-01434847-PR-LACMC
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of CLAY JAMES LANDENBERGER, JR. AKA CLAY JAMES LANDENBERGER.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by NIKKI LYNN LANDENBERGER in the Superior Court of California, County of ORANGE.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that NIKKI LYNN LANDENBERGER be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/19/24 at 1:30PM in Dept. CM07 located at 3390 HARBOR BLVD., COSTA MESA, CA 92626 NOTICE IN PROBATE CASES
The court is providing the convenience to appear for hearing by video using the court’s designated video platform. This is a no cost service to the public. Go to the Court’s website at The Superior Court of California - County of Orange (occourts.org) to appear remotely for Probate hearings and for remote hearing instructions. If you have difficulty connecting or are unable to connect to your remote hearing, call 657-622-8278 for assistance. If you prefer to appear in-person, you can appear in the department on the day/time set for your hearing.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California
LEGALS
Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner
ROBERT L. COHEN, ESQ. - SBN 150913
LAW OFFICES OF ROBERT L. COHEN, INC. 8081 ORANGETHORPE AVE. BUENA PARK CA 90621
Telephone (714) 522-8880 10/31, 11/4, 11/7/24 CNS-3866119# ANAHEIM PRESS
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: HENRY J. SUAREZ AKA HENRY JOSEPH SUAREZ AKA HENRY SUAREZ
CASE NO. 24STPB11933
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of HENRY J. SUAREZ AKA HENRY JOSEPH SUAREZ AKA HENRY SUAREZ.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by VIVIAN SUAREZ AKA VIVIAN VALDES SUAREZ in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that VIVIAN SUAREZ AKA VIVIAN VALDES SUAREZ be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests the decedent’s WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The WILL and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/06/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 44 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner
RITA M. DIAZ, ESQ. - SBN 205538
HAHN & HAHN LLP
301 E COLORADO BLVD., 9TH FLR PASADENA CA 91101-1977
Telephone (626) 796-9123 10/31, 11/4, 11/7/24 CNS-3866783# PASADENA PRESS
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: BOBBY GLENN HENRY AKA BOBBY G. HENRY CASE NO. 30-2024-01434514-PR-CPCMC
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of BOBBY GLENN HENRY AKA BOBBY G. HENRY.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by PATRICIA HENRY in the Superior Court of California, County of ORANGE. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that PATRICIA HENRY be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/05/24 at 1:30PM in Dept. CM07 located at 3390 HARBOR BLVD., COSTA MESA, CA 92626
NOTICE IN PROBATE CASES
The court is providing the convenience to appear for hearing by video using the court’s designated video platform. This is a no cost service to the public. Go to the Court’s website at The Superior Court of California - County of Orange (occourts.org) to appear remotely for Probate hearings and for remote hearing instructions. If you have difficulty connecting or are unable to connect to your remote hearing, call 657-622-8278 for assistance. If you prefer to appear in-person, you can appear in the department on the day/time set for your hearing.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner
KRISTEN WONG - SBN 210627
SEASONS ESTATE PLANNING, APC
475 WASHINGTON BOULEVARD
MARINA DEL REY CA 90292
Telephone (310) 344-3015
11/4, 11/7, 11/11/24 CNS-3866492# ANAHEIM PRESS
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF
Harold R Solis
Case No. PRR12402729
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of Harold R Solis
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Manuel Octavio Barrios in the Superior Court of California, County of RIVERSIDE.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Manuel Octavio Barrios be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on December 2, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. 12. located at 4050 Main Street, Riverside, Ca 92501.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner: Maryann Briseno The Briseno Law Firm 32395 Clinton Keith Rd Ste A-206 Wildomar, California 92525 951-384-0976
October 31, November 4, 7, 2024
RIVERSIDE INDEPENDENT
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
RAFAEL J. AGUIRRE CASE NO. 24STPB12346
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of RAFAEL J. AGUIRRE.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by MARIA AGUIRRE AKA MARIA RAMIREZ in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that MARIA AGUIRRE AKA MARIA RAMIREZ be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with limited authority. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted
unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/06/24 at 8:30AM in Dept. 9 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for Petitioner
JUVENTINO B. CASAS JR. - SBN 44445 LAW OFFICE OF J.B. CASAS JR. 2520 WEST BEVERLY BLVD. MONTEBELLO CA 90640 Telephone (323) 726-3200 11/4, 11/7, 11/11/24 CNS-3867529# PASADENA PRESS
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF MARIANNE FRIEDMAN Case No. 24STPB12159
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of MARIANNE FRIEDMAN A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Nathan Donald Weinstein in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Nathan Donald Weinstein be appointed as personal representa-tive to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court ap-proval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the per-sonal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on Nov. 25, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 4 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal rep-resentative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want
Fictitious Business Name Filings
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT
File No. FBN20240007104
The following persons are doing business as: M4 Ontario. INC DBA Cheba Hut Ontario, 1900 East Inland Empire Blvd, Ste. A, Ontario, CA 91764. Mailing Address, 12223 Highland Avet. Ste. 525, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739. M4 Ontario, Inc. (CA, 12223 Highland Avenue. Ste. 525, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739; Tyrone Myles, President. County of Principal Place of Business: San Bernardino This business is conducted by: a corporation. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. By signing below, I declare that I have read and understand the reverse side of this form and that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Sections 62506277). /s/ Tyrone Myles, President. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on August 7, 2024 Notice- In accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 17920. A Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to Section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code) File#: FBN20240007104 Pub: 09/12/2024, 09/19/2024, 09/26/2024, 10/03/2024 San Bernardino Press
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN20240009012
The following persons are doing business as: San Bernardino Eye Specialists, 1887 Business Center Dr Suite 2A, San Bernardino, CA 92408. Mailing Address, 1909 N. Waterman Ave. Ste 3, san bernardino, CA 92404. Gintien Huang, M.D. INC.., A California Medical Corporation (CA, 1909 N Waterman Ave Ste 3, San Bernardino, CA 92404; gintien huang, president. County of Principal Place of Business: San Bernardino This business is conducted by: a corporation. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. By signing below, I declare that I have read and understand the reverse side of this form and that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Sections 62506277). /s/ gintien huang, president. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on October 4, 2024 Notice- In accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 17920. A Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to Section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code) File#: FBN20240009012 Pub: 10/14/2024, 10/21/2024, 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024 San Bernardino Press
The following person(s) is (are) doing business as LV Electric 760 Saint Helena Dr Corona, CA 92879 Riverside County LV Builders, Inc (CA, 760 Saint Helena Dr, Corona, CA 92879 Riverside County This business is conducted by: a corporation. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. I declare that all the information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code, that the registrant knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousands dollars ($1000).) s. Raul Rudy Flores, President Statement filed with the County of Riverside on September 19, 2024 NOTICE: In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920, a fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of the five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any changes in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 Et Seq., business and professions code). I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Peter Aldana, County, Clerk File# R-202411902 Pub. 10/14/2024, 10/21/2024, 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024 Riverside Independent
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT 20246699461. The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Lopez & Son Trucking, 200 W Rosecrest Ave, La Habra, CA 90631. Full Name of Registrant(s) Oscar Manuel Lopez Jr, 200 W Rosecrest Ave, La Habra, CA 90631. This business is conducted by a individual. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business
under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. /S/ Oscar Manuel Lopez Jr. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County on September 23, 2024. Publish: Anaheim Press 10/14/2024, 10/21/2024, 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT 20246699460. The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: FP Window Tint, 822 W Wl Segundo Blvd Apt 3, Gardena, CA 90247. Full Name of Registrant(s) (1). Faustino Pancho Policarpo, 822 W Wl Segundo Blvd Apt 3, Gardena, CA 90247 (2). Erika Garcia, 822 W Wl Segundo Blvd Apt 3, Gardena, CA 90247 . This business is conducted by a individual. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. /S/ Faustino Pancho Policarpo, General Partner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County on September 23, 2024. Publish: Anaheim Press 10/14/2024, 10/21/2024, 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT 20246700882. The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Skin Care by the Sea, 30200 Rancho Viejo Rd. Suite D., San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675. Full Name of Registrant(s) Tammi Banks, 30200 Rancho Viejo Rd. Suite D., San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675. This business is conducted by a individual. Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein on January 1, 2004. /S/ Tammi Banks. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County on October 14, 2024. Publish: Anaheim Press 10/21/2024, 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024, 11/11/2024
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT 20246701552. The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: AICARE ORTHODONTICS, 10990 Warner Ave # I, Fountain Valley, CA 92708. Full Name of Registrant(s) Ai Huang, D.M.D., Inc. (CA, 10990 Warner Ave # I, Fountain Valley, CA 92708. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name
or names listed herein on October 8, 2024. AICARE ORTHODONTICS. /S/ Ai Huang, President. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County on October 22, 2024. Publish: Anaheim Press 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024, 11/11/2024, 11/18/2024
The following person(s) is (are) doing business as Estela Market 6104 Mission Blvd Riverside, CA 92509 Riverside County Mailing Address, 8628 6th st, downey, CA 90241. Riverside County yahir german caiceros galeno, 6104 Mission Blvd, Riverside, CA 92509 Riverside County This business is conducted by: a individual. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. I declare that all the information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code, that the registrant knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousands dollars ($1000).) s. yahir german caiceros galeno Statement filed with the County of Riverside on October 8, 2024 NOTICE: In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920, a fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of the five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any changes in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 Et Seq., business and professions code). I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Peter Aldana, County, Clerk File# R-202412741 Pub. 10/28/2024, 11/04/2024, 11/11/2024, 11/18/2024 Riverside Independent
Westridge school senior chosen as 106th Rose Queen
By City News Service
Lindsay Charles, a senior at Westridge School in Pasadena, was named Tuesday the106th Rose Queen and will lead the seven-member Rose Court as ambassadors at dozens of events leading up to the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1.
Charles was officially crowned at an announcement Tuesday afternoon at Tournament House in Pasadena, home to the Tournament of Roses organization.
A San Marino resident, Charles is captain of her school’s track and field team and is active in a number of school and community groups, including Food Chain LA, Green Guerrillas club, Multicultural/Multiracial Affinity, and Stemology for Kids. According to the Tournament of Roses, she is
fluent in Mandarin, and she enjoys gardening, neuroscience, hiking, journaling, drawing and collecting art. She plans to study environmental science or neuroscience.
She was one of seven members of the Rose Court who were chosen from hundreds of applicants in September.
Other members of the court are Lisette Parker, a senior at Maranatha High School; Saniyah Brunston, a senior at John Muir High School; Lara Georgian, a senior at Mayfield Senior School; Natalia Pradhan, a senior at Flintridge Preparatory School; Simone Ball, a senior at Arcadia High School; and Kate Kelly, a senior at La Cañada High School.
To qualify for spots on the Rose Court, applicants
must identify as female, be between 17 and 21 years old, reside within the Pasadena Area Community College District and have at least a 2.0 grade-point average during the current and previous academic year. Applicants must be either a senior in high school or enrolled as a fulltime student at any school or college within the Pasadena Area Community College District.
Members of the court all receive a $7,500 educational scholarship.
The members of the Court “highlight the mosaic of backgrounds and cultures that define the Pasadena community and exemplify character, service and leadership modeled through their commitment to family, school and community,” according to the Tournament
Waterfront amusement park coming to San Pedro
By City News Service
Developers of West HarborPark,a shopping, dining and entertainment complex on the San Pedro waterfront, announced the next phase of their project Wednesday, including an amusement park that will feature Southern California’s largest coastal observation wheel.
The West Harbor Wheel will stand between 100 and 150 feet tall, based on plans being worked on by developers and the Port of Los Angeles. Officials said guests riding the wheel will enjoy “spectacular panoramic views” of the port, the Battleship USS Iowa, the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the Pacific Ocean and passing cruise ships -- all from the comfort of enclosed modern gondolas.
“The West Harbor Wheel
and park will become an iconic feature of the West Harbor project, which aims to enhance the Los Angeles waterfront experience with exceptional shopping, dining, and recreational activities,” said Todd Schneider of SkyView Partners, a St. Louis-based attraction and amusement park operator.
The park will also include a seaside carousel and several other rides and attractions.
Wednesday’s announcement included the addition of more than 125,000 square feet of new tenants, including a King of Padel pickleball club, a new San Pedro Fish Market location and other food tenants such as Miller Butler pizza and Coffee with Creme and Sugar.
Previously announced
tenants included the offleash membership dog park Bark Social, Harbor Breeze Cruises, Wheel Fun Rentals and Catalina Tea Bar, which are currently open along West Harbor’s Promenade.
The new lease announcements follow the completion of Building A, a major Phase 1 construction milestone.
Construction of Building B is underway and estimated for completion in 2025.
“Leasing interest catapulted once Phase 1 came to life,” said Valerie James, senior vice president for Jerico Development, which is collaborating with The Ratkovich Company on West Harbor. “The addition of these attractions underscores our dedication to developing a dynamic space that blends recreation, dining, and
entertainment along the LA Waterfront. West Harbor is leading the transformation of San Pedro and the Port of
Senate
won a Senate race in the state since 1988. However, Republicans have a history of conveying star quality into statewide victories. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his star power to become California’s governor from 2003 to 2011.
Throughout the campaign, Garvey has leaned into his baseball career.
“I never played for Democrats or Republicans or independents. I played for all of
you,” Garvey said in a video launching his campaign last year. “It’s time to get off the bench. It’s time to get back in the game.”
Garvey’s entrance into the race gave Republicans a name recognized by many Californians.
“Our campaign is focused on quality-of-life issues, public safety and education,” Garvey said, adding that solving the homelessness crisis is one of
his top priorities.
“We can’t just offer temporary fixes; we need to dig deep and provide comprehensive care that includes mental health, addiction treatment, and affordable housing,” Garvey said on his campaign’s website. “This issue is about restoring hope, dignity, and humanity to our fellow Californians that are struggling on our streets.”
The former baseball
player said his focus will also be on public safety.
“I fully back our law enforcement and believe in the power of community policing and innovative crime prevention,” Garvey said. “I’ll work towards building strong partnerships between law enforcement and communities.”
Garvey insisted he will improve the quality of life for Californians.
Los Angeles into a major visitor-serving destination. Its success highlights the appeal of this unique and eclectic
waterfront location.” West Harbor is set for a phased opening starting in late 2025.
“It’s about creating opportunities for every Californian to live a fulfilling life. From boosting our economy in these tough times, ensuring everyone has access to quality healthcare, to investing in our communities,” he said.
Garvey stated he would also tackle the issue of immigration.
“We need a balanced approach to immigration. This means we must secure
borders, while also respecting the dignity and aspirations of those who come here seeking a better life,” Garvey said. Other issues Garvey has focused on include improving the education system, supporting “practical climate action that balances our ecological needs with economic growth,” and supporting sustainable agriculture that’s “both environmentally friendly, economically viable.”
of Roses.
The group will attend dozens of community and
charity events in the coming weeks, and they will ride on a float in the Rose Parade and appear on field for pre-game festivities at the Rose Bowl Game.
Lindsay Charles, center. | Photo courtesy of Tournament of Roses
An artist’s depiction shows the coastal observation wheel coming to West Harbor Park in San Pedro. | Image courtesy of West Harbor
Saying he has “great sorrow” for his actions, former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony federal bribery conspiracy charge.
Do, 61, admitted in his plea agreement that in exchange for more than $550,000 in bribes, he cast votes on the Board of Supervisors beginning in 2020 that directed more than $10 million in COVID relief funds to the Viet America Society, where his daughter Rhiannon worked, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Sentencing was set for March 31.
“I have great sorrow for my actions,” Do told U.S. District Judge James Selna when the defendant was asked to state the crimes in his own words. He could face up to five years in prison, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. He told reporters he anticipates his office will push for the upper end of the punishment included in the federal guidelines.
Selna told Do he has the authority to impose a stiffer sentence, which can be appealed. But Do waives all of his appeals and cannot withdraw the plea if the sentence does not exceed the five years. Still to be sorted out is how much in restitution Do may have to make. It could be between $550,000 to $730,000 as spelled out in the plea agreement, but prosecutors could recommend the proceeds from the sale of the Tustin home his daughter bought could go toward restitution.
Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, said after the hearing, “We want to respect the legal
Ex-OC Supervisor Andrew Do pleads guilty to bribery charge
By City News Service
plastic products accumulate and pollute the County’s land and water sources, contaminating the County’s natural resources, harming the environment and wildlife, and threatening public health.”
The suit claims the companies deceived consumers by falsely promising that recycling can balance out any harm that results from disposing single-use plastic bottles.
“Coca-Cola has promised to create a ‘circular economy’ for their bottles, in which plastic bottles can be recycled and reused an
process and will not discuss the case or facts. Andrew Do’s in-court acceptance of responsibility to the judge, and his apology to his family and community, was complete and sincere.”
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told reporters after Thursday’s hearing that it was a “monumental day.”
Spitzer added that “hearing (Do) saying it in his own words was significant and monumental.”
Do’s own account of his crimes “gave me confidence we got it right,” Spitzer said. When asked about any others who may have been involved in the scheme, Spitzer declined comment.
“Obviously, this is an ongoing investigation,” Spitzer said, adding it would be unfair to discuss any probes of anyone not charged with any crimes.
“We are not done and will pursue every individual involved,” Spitzer said. “We are absolutely committed and dedicated to making full restitution back to the taxpayers.”
Spitzer said he felt “shamed” that the money for a memorial for veterans in Westminster was “squandered.” He said Do’s replacement could be sworn in earlier than the usual date in January.
Do, who was termed out at year’s end, resigned his supervisorial seat as part of his plea deal.
It was a remarkable tumble out of power for the Vietnam War refugee, who was a prosecutor for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and a defense attorney before being elected to the Garden Grove City Council after serving as chief of staff for former Orange County Super-
visor Janet Nguyen. He was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2015, and won another term in 2020.
Prosecutors said some of the county money received by VAS was ultimately funneled through an unnamed outside company that made monthly $8,000 payments to Rhiannon Do, 23, totaling $224,000 by February 2024. The company also transferred more than $380,000 to an escrow company, and Rhiannon Do used that money to purchase a $1 million home in Tustin, prosecutors said. Other funds were routed back to Andrew Do to make property tax payments on properties owned by him and his wife, while another $15,000 was used to pay one of Andrew Do’s credit card bills, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“In total, Mr. Do and his family received over $700,000
in bribe payments,” Estrada said at a news conference. Do’s constituents “got a politician, who put his own needs above those of the people in his community,” Estrada said. “Mr. Do is a representative of the American Dream. He came to this country, he worked hard, achieved success, was elected to public office and threw it all away to enrich himself.”
Estrada said what worsened the corruption was “the people he stole from, the money he took, was meant for those most vulnerable in our community.”
While agreeing to plead guilty to the federal bribery conspiracy charge, Andrew Do also reached a separate but related plea agreement with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, under which he stepped down as a county supervisor and will forfeit any pension credit
Plastics
endless number of times,” county attorneys said. “Similarly, PepsiCo has overplayed the recyclability of its bottles by promising that it can create a ‘circular economy for plastics.’ However, in reality, plastic bottles can only be recycled once, if at all, making promises of a ‘circular economy; impossible. PepsiCo and CocaCola have also made false promises that they would increase the use of recycled plastic by certain percentages and eliminate the use of virgin plastic.”
After use, plastic containers break down into micro-
he amassed during the time he was engaged in the bribery scheme since 2020, Spitzer said at the news conference.
Rhiannon Do, a third-year UC Irvine law school student, has agreed to fully cooperate with the investigation and will be allowed to enter a diversion program. She agreed to forfeit the home in Tustin, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said another adult daughter of Do’s received $100,000.
Andrew Do also faces a fine of up to $250,000.
When asked whether anyone else could face charges, Estrada said the investigation is ongoing.
Andrew Do had already been stripped of his committee assignments and his seat on the Orange County Transportation Authority board. Do was also censured by his fellow supervisors, some of whom had been calling for him to resign, since they lacked the power to remove him from office.
The firestorm around Do started last year when questions were raised about the COVID-19 relief subcontracts provided to the Viet America Society. The uproar boiled over in August when the county sued VAS in an attempt to claw back millions of dollars for unaccounted-for services tied to a contract for a program to deliver meals to the elderly and needy during the pandemic.
Do was not named in the lawsuit, but his daughter was accused of using some of the money to buy the home in Tustin. Do also has connections to Peter Pham, the head of VAS.
VAS officials insisted they prepared and delivered the meals during the
pandemic, but failed to adequately account for the services. An attorney for VAS said its drivers struggled to collect all of the paperwork as residents were engaged in social distancing during the pandemic.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal — who was appointed to handle the county’s lawsuit because Do’s wife, and Rhiannon’s mother, is Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham -has ordered VAS to set aside nearly $4.2 million in case the county prevails in its lawsuit.
The county has also sued the Hand to Hand Relief organization, which subcontracted with VAS.
Federal investigators in August raided the homes of Peter Pham and Rhiannon Do, along with other locations tied to the probe into alleged misuse of funds, including Andrew Do’s home.
The plea agreement also outlines how prosecutors allege one of the unnamed co-conspirators used an air conditioning company that was paid $256,000 to funnel $100,000 in bribes to Do. That $100,000 was paid to Do’s other daughter with three $25,000 checks from one company and $25,000 from another alleged co-conspirator, prosecutors said. Of the $9.3 million that went to VAS, only 15%, or about $1.4 million, was used for what it was intended, Estrada said. The government has seized $2.4 million, along with the Tustin home and another home on 17th Street in Santa Ana, Estrada said. Do touted in online videos that VAS provided 2,700 meals per week, prosecutors said.
are also more frequently being discovered and connected with negative health consequences, the lawsuit states.
The suit was filed in response to complaints from consumers across the county and state, officials said.
“The goal of this lawsuit is to stop the unfair and illegal conduct, to address the marketing practices that deceive consumers, and to force these businesses to change their practices to reduce the plastic pollution problem in the County and in California,” Harrison said
in a statement. “My office is committed to protecting the public from deceptive business practices and holding these companies accountable for their role in the plastic pollution crisis.”
The county seeks a court order to stop the companies’ alleged unfair and deceptive business practices, restitution for consumers of the money acquired by means of the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.
A copy of the county’s court filing is available online.
| Photo courtesy of Eduardo Soares/Pexels
Andrew Do. | Photo courtesy of Orange County Young Democrats/ Facebook
that contaminate the air, food supply, drinking
and even the human body, where microplastics