O.C. school district polarized by tensions 7,500 miles away
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 18. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at the latest local news and events.
As I read this headline yesterday, “Blast kills hundreds at Gaza hospital; Hamas blames Israel, which blames Islamic Jihad,” I was still mulling this excellent news feature written by my former Daily Pilot/Times OC colleague and current Los Angeles Times reporter Gabriel San Román, that explains how the Santa Ana Unified School District has been grappling with the best way to educate its students on the longstanding tensions in the Middle East.
Each side of the Israel-Hamas war offers a different version of what happened yesterday. This is not surprising; there are two sides to be told in any conflict. The two sides are also well represented in Orange County.
Santa Ana Unified, according to San Román’s reporting under the headline “Whose stories do we tell? Israeli-Palestinian tensions polarize an Orange County school district,” was considering last spring plans to adopt new ethnic study courses for high schoolers to better inform them about the issues. (The state, in 2021, became the first state to make ethnic studies a required class for high school graduation, a regulation that takes effect statewide for the class of 2030.)
“A proposed outline for [a Santa Ana Unified] course encouraged students to critically assess the United Nations’ 1947 resolution to create a Jewish state in Arab territories then under British control. The board had already approved another ethnic studies class, this one part of the English literature curriculum, that includes lessons on the 1985 assassination of Alex Odeh, a Palestinian American activist killed when a bomb exploded in the Santa Ana office of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, where Odeh worked as regional director. The FBI labeled the bombing a terrorist attack carried out by “Jewish extremist elements,” though no suspects were ever charged,” San Román explains.
Robin Gurien, a communications professor at Cal State Fullerton, told the board during a meeting last April that she had concerns about the proposed course. She said she was worried that students exposed to the lessons would come away with a warped impression of Jews. “The Jewish experience,” Gurien said, “is being characterized as violent and extreme.”
Santa Ana trustees nonetheless gave the go-ahead for the course, clearing the way for students to enroll next fall, San Román reports, and a chorus of dissent from Jewish advocacy groups has ensued since that decision was made.
“The Brandeis Center and StandWithUs, leading Jewish advocacy groups, sent Santa Ana Unified a letter in July denouncing the course materials as antisemitic and noting the failure to mention the Jews expelled from Arab and Muslim states and the persistent terrorism Israelis face,” according to the story.
For their part, “Arab American community leaders say they are grateful Santa Ana is embracing coursework that sheds light on their immigrant stories. While Santa Ana Unified is 96% Latino, neighboring Anaheim is home to Little Arabia, an ethnic enclave that has become a cultural hub for Arab Americans across Southern California,” the reporter notes.
Even before the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict exploded onto the forefront after Hamas militants launched an assault that killed more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers, Santa Ana Unified was still refining the proposed curriculum.
“Supt. [Jerry] Almendarez’s sole public statement on the controversy came during a May 23 school board meeting,” San Román reports.
“The district has no intentions of removing any narrative from the curriculum that will be developed in the future,” Almendarez said at the meeting. “Our intent is to listen to all sides, to learn from all sides and to approach this in a balanced manner.”
MORE NEWS
• A fight broke out Sunday among a group of adults at Disneyland, according to authorities and video of the incident. According to the L.A. Times story on the brawl, it involved at least five people and was captured on video that shows a woman and man throwing punches at each other and wrestling before others join in. “At least two young children were caught up in the mayhem, which sent stroller-pushing parents scrambling for safety,” The Times reports. The drama unfolded near Disneyland’s famed Mad Tea Party spinning tea cups ride, in front of the Storybook Land Canal Boats. It was not clear what led to the theme park skirmish, but park security removed the instigator from the property, according to Disneyland officials. It was not the first such incident. At the end of last year, officials for the park put a new “courtesy” section on their website reminding visitors to treat each other with respect.
• Tod D. Brown, who served as bishop of the Diocese of Orange from 1998 until his retirement in 2012 died early Sunday after a long battle with lymphoma, the diocese announced. He was 86. Brown, who held the title bishop emeritus, died at Providence St. Joseph Hospital Orange. On Jan. 3, 2005, he apologized to plaintiffs in 90 cases of alleged childhood abuse by Catholic clergy in a case the diocese of Orange reached a $100 million settlement with victims. Brown also oversaw the acquisition of the Crystal Cathedral. His news obituary in the L.A. Times can be found here.
• The California Coastal Commission agrees with the city of Newport Beach that fractional home ownerships can be considered timeshares for regulation purposes. Fractional home ownership is a real estate trend wherein several owners enter an agreement with one another to purchase a property. Time at those properties is then split on the basis of the “share” that each party owns, and a big player in the industry is property broker Pacaso. In May, the Newport Beach City Council moved to include fractional home ownership under the umbrella of timeshares. By doing so, it requires those properties to abide by the same regulations and requirements that guide timeshares, which includes their prohibition in all residential zones of Newport Beach. Thursday’s ruling by the commission did not sit well with Pacaso, according to the Daily Pilot’s coverage of the Coastal Commission meeting. “Allowing a city to ban co-ownership by calling co-ownership a timeshare will have grave consequences that are unintended, impacting thousands of homeowners today and tomorrow,” Pacaso founder Austin Allison warned the commission.
• The average price of self-serve regular gasoline dropped in Orange County for the 18th consecutive day on Tuesday, decreasing 3.2 cents to $5.566. It has dropped 72.2 cents over the past 18 days, City News Service reports, including six-tenths of a cent Monday. The Orange County average price is 21.8 cents less than one week ago, 30.4 cents lower than one month ago and 41.2 cents below what it was one year ago. It has dropped 89.3 cents since rising to a record $6.459 on Oct. 5, 2022.
PUBLIC SAFETY & COURTS
• Three teenagers were arrested Friday after allegedly attacking a Fullerton College campus safety officer, then swinging a tomahawk at responding police officers, the L.A. Times reports. The three suspects are alleged to have punched, kicked and head-stomped the officer, as well as gouged his eyes. The officer, identified only as a 53-year-old man, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening facial injuries. The assault was reported shortly after 6 a.m. in the quad area of the community college at 321 E. Chapman Ave.
• A 36-year-old O.C. firefighter has been indicted in a deadly hit-and-run collision with a pedestrian in Dana Point, the Orange County district attorney’s office told City News Service on Tuesday. Jeffrey Richard Grasinger of Rancho Santa Margarita is accused of killing 24-year-old Said Darinel Sanchez on Oct. 21. Prosecutors said he struck the victim at about 6:45 p.m. while the man was crossing Pacific Coast Highway and did not stop to render aid. He will face up to four years in prison if convicted at trial.
• A 19-year-old man previously convicted of fatally stabbing his mother when he was 13 was convicted Tuesday of making a shank while in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, according to City News Service. Ike Souzer of Garden Grove was convicted of making and possessing a weapon while in custody, both felony counts.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Did you know the nonprofit Shark Stewards was founded by a woman who survived a frightening encounter with a great white shark? Triathlete Maria Korcsmoros was swimming at Corona del Mar beach seven years ago when she was bitten. After sustaining a punctured lung, several cracked ribs and other injuries that required 160 staples, she became an advocate for shark preservation and established annual Run 4 Sharks & Ocean Health Fair. This year’s event was held earlier this month at Newport Dunes Resort. The Daily Pilot story on Korcsmoros’ endeavors can be found here.
• O.C. resident Jon Dunn is marking his 30th anniversary this year of serving as president and chief executive officer at Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties. When he was tapped for the position in 1993, he wasn’t sure he was the right leader for the organization, according to this feature by my colleague Sarah Mosqueda. In fact, when he was asked for a five-year commitment, Dunn negotiated that down to three years. But those three agreed-upon years grew to three decades. “I guess it was a good fit,” the understated Dunn told the reporter.
SPORTS
• The Ducks beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 in their season opener Sunday. Clad in a version of their original uniforms to mark their 30th anniversary, the Ducks played before a standing-room-only crowed of 17,273 at Honda Center. According to L.A. Times columnist Helene Elliott, it was the first of 15 times the Ducks will wear their throwback jerseys this season in a game that showed promise for the team’s future.
• Who could replace Phil Nevin as Angels manager? Sarah Valenzuela, Angels beat writer for The Times takes a look at six potential candidates.
• The Marina High Vikings were victorious over the visiting Garden Grove Argonauts, 28-21, in a Big 4 League opener at Boswell Field Friday night. One Viking was especially happy that night: Marina left tackle Adam Dekhili was not only a member of the winning team, but he was also named Homecoming King. The Daily Pilot’s coverage of the game can be found here.
CALENDAR THIS
• Barktoberfest returns to TeWinkle Park on Saturday, Oct. 21. Costa Mesa Animal Services will hold its annual Halloween pet event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be pet adoptions, pet supply vendors, photo ops and food trucks. There will also be a pet costume contest. Sign-ups will take place at the Animal Services booth from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. the day of the event. Categories include the spookiest, funniest, cutest, best pet and owner, best group and best in show. Winners will be announced after the costume parade at 12:45 p.m. For more information call (714) 754-4918 or email amy.ramirez@costamesaca.gov.
• The fall book sale hosted by the Orange Coast College Friends of the Library takes place Oct. 24 and 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Most books are priced at $1, though the event will conclude with a $2-a-bag deal during the last two hours of the sale. Members and OCC students can enjoy a presale exclusive from 9 to 10 a.m. on Oct. 24. The sale will be held in the Library Lecture Room and is open to the general public. Attendees can park in Lot E and purchase a parking permit at the kiosk near the library. The college is located at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.
• South Coast Repertory, now in its 60th season, is set to present “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. Directed by Khanisha Foster, the play runs Oct. 22 through Nov. 12 on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Tickets are available at scr.org.
• The 13th annual OC Japan Fair will be held the weekend of Oct. 27 through 29 at the OC Fair & Event Center. The fair will open on Friday from 5 to 11 p.m. while the weekend hours are from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at oc-japanfair.com/ticket#ticket-info.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Thank you for reading today’s newsletter. If you have a memory or story about Orange County, I would love to read and share it in this space. Please try to keep your submission to 100 words or less and include your name and current city of residence.
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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