Officials ordered or urged tens of thousands of Orange County residents to evacuate after a leak involving methyl methacrylate at GKN Aerospace. The chemical, used in plastics and resins, is flammable and can cause health effects including breathing problems, nausea, nosebleeds, skin irritation and, in serious cases, hospitalization.

State officials declared an emergency, and about 50,000 people were told to follow evacuation directions. Public agencies announced shelters, care centers and hotlines for residents seeking help.

But disability advocates say those resources do not necessarily amount to a workable evacuation plan for people who cannot simply get into a car, drive away and sleep in a public shelter.

For a bedbound senior who depends on a caregiver, leaving home may require medical transport and continuous personal care. A resident who uses a power wheelchair may not be able to ride in a standard vehicle. Hospice patients, people who rely on oxygen, those needing dialysis, wound care or hospital beds, and residents with complex medical conditions may not be safe in a crowded gymnasium or community shelter.

Kelley Barrett, a retired nonprofit administrator who advocates for people with disabilities, said the Garden Grove incident exposed a persistent gap in emergency planning: public notices often tell residents where to go, but do not clearly explain how people with serious care needs will be identified, contacted, transported and housed safely.

Standard shelters may be suitable for evacuees who can walk, manage their own medication, use public restrooms, tolerate crowds and sleep on a cot. They are far less practical for residents who need caregivers, medical equipment, accessible bathrooms, wheelchair charging, oxygen support or medically appropriate placement.

Advocates are calling for counties to maintain active “access and functional needs” evacuation systems that go beyond written plans or website postings. Such systems, they argue, should include coordination with In-Home Supportive Services, Adult Protective Services, hospice providers, home health agencies, senior housing sites, regional centers and medical baseline programs.

They also say evacuation operations should include accessible transportation, medical transport, caregiver access, medication support, language access and shelters equipped for people with disabilities or significant health needs.

The Garden Grove emergency also has prompted calls for more transparency after major evacuations. Advocates say counties should report how many in-home care recipients, hospice patients, home health patients and oxygen-dependent residents were in evacuation zones; how many lacked transportation; how many were contacted directly; and where medically fragile residents were ultimately taken.

Those destinations could include accessible shelters, medical shelters, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, hotels or relatives’ homes. Without public reporting, advocates say, it is difficult to know whether vulnerable residents were safely assisted or left to make their own arrangements.

The concerns are not aimed at firefighters, police officers or emergency workers, who often respond under dangerous conditions. Rather, advocates say the issue is whether emergency systems are built to include people who cannot self-evacuate.

California has emphasized aging in place, disability rights and health equity, but emergency planning must reflect those commitments, advocates say. When officials tell the public to leave, they argue, there must also be a clear plan for those who cannot leave without help.

The Garden Grove chemical emergency has therefore become about more than the contents of a leaking tank. It has also become a test of whether disaster planning in Southern California protects residents who are elderly, disabled, homebound or medically fragile.

Original source: CalMatters

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The tank at GKN Aerospace, which manufactures cockpit windows and shields for military aircraft, had been heating up after a cooling system valve failed. Officials used drones to read the tank’s temperature from outside the facility while crews deployed an unmanned ground monitoring system and water cannon to spray the tank and keep it cool.

At the height of the emergency, officials feared the tank could rupture or explode, potentially sending a toxic chemical cloud over nearby neighborhoods. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office sent more than 700 personnel to Garden Grove as local and state agencies responded.

The immediate danger eased only after the tank cracked enough to release pressure without triggering a blast. Evacuation orders were lifted by Tuesday night, but the near-disaster has left residents, community advocates and environmental experts demanding answers about what regulators knew before the crisis — and whether California’s oversight system missed warning signs.

The incident has exposed possible gaps across several regulatory programs. Air quality officials had flagged compliance problems at GKN years before the emergency. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is now investigating whether any laws were broken. Community leaders say residents deserve a clear accounting of what safety measures were in place, how the chemical was being stored and why the situation came so close to catastrophe.

GKN had been working through environmental compliance issues at the same time regulators and local planners were reviewing a proposed expansion of the Garden Grove facility, which would increase production capacity for components used in F-35 military fighter jets.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District has inspected GKN three times in the past decade. For much of that period, the facility was classified as a “minor source” of emissions under the district’s permitting system, a designation that did not require frequent inspections.

Records show that limited oversight may have coincided with years of compliance problems, though regulators have said those violations were not tied to the storage tank that held methyl methacrylate, the chemical involved in the emergency.

In 2020, GKN voluntarily reported certain issues that prompted South Coast air regulators to inspect the site and review company records. The district’s investigation found that violations had occurred as far back as 2017. According to regulatory documents, the plant, located less than a mile from homes and schools, failed to maintain required emissions records, operated new equipment without proper permits and used equipment that did not match the descriptions in its existing permits.

The air district did not issue a formal notice of violation until April 2021. A settlement was not finalized until late 2024, when GKN agreed to pay more than $900,000. The company did not admit liability in the agreement, which resolved 14 alleged violations.

South Coast regulators now consider GKN a “major source” of emissions, a category subject to annual inspections. A district spokesperson said the company has applied for a more comprehensive permit at the direction of regulators.

For residents and community advocates, the timeline has added to frustration.

“That delay and the fact that GKN was allowed to operate with what felt like impunity has meant tens of thousands of Garden Grove residents are now paying the price,” said Tracy La, executive director of VietRISE, a nonprofit that works with Vietnamese and immigrant communities in Orange County.

La said evacuees faced costs for temporary lodging, replacement medications, transportation and other emergency needs after being forced from their homes.

“It is frustrating that everyday people are the ones who continue to bear the consequences when government officials are unwilling to hold powerful and wealthy corporations accountable,” she said.

Garden Grove is part of Little Saigon, one of the largest Vietnamese American communities in the country and home to many immigrants and refugees from the Vietnam War.

For some residents, methyl methacrylate is not an obscure aerospace chemical. It is a workplace hazard they have fought for years to remove from nail salons.

Lisa Fu, who leads the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, said Vietnamese nail salon workers across the state campaigned against the chemical because of its effects on the lungs, skin and eyes. California banned the use of methyl methacrylate in nail salons and cosmetology schools in 2015 after workers raised health concerns.

Now, Fu said, the same chemical was leaking from a tank only a short distance from Little Saigon. She said members of her organization and residents reported nosebleeds, itching and the deaths of pet birds.

Air monitors placed near the plant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the South Coast air district recorded pollution levels within normal ranges. But Fu said the gap between those readings and residents’ experiences has deepened distrust.

“At press conferences, people hear there are no fumes, no vapors, no leaks, no contamination,” Fu said. “They say it is safe. Safe for whom? We believe the community when these stories keep coming in.”

Community advocates are urging Garden Grove officials to close the facility and adopt a moratorium on military manufacturing facilities and expansions in the city.

GKN’s more comprehensive air permit application is pending before the South Coast air district, and the public is expected to have an opportunity to comment. A district spokesperson said the agency had planned to release the permit for public review before the end of the year, though that timeline could change because of the emergency.

The incident has also raised questions about whether California’s chemical safety rules leave residents vulnerable when hazardous substances fall outside the state’s strictest accidental release programs.

Methyl methacrylate is a volatile chemical widely used in plastics manufacturing. Officials feared the GKN tank could fail as the liquid overheated, spilling thousands of gallons of chemical material or triggering an explosion.

Andrew J. Whelton, an environmental engineering professor at Purdue University, compared the pressure buildup to “a soda can left in a car in the middle of summer.”

“The pressure inside the can builds beyond what the metal can withstand,” he said.

When the tank began overheating, it set off a chemical reaction that response crews could not stop. Craig Covey, a division chief with the Orange County Fire Authority, said at a May 22 news conference that the reaction had clogged valves crews needed to inject a neutralizing agent.

Methyl methacrylate is not a regulated chemical under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program or California’s parallel accidental release program, known as CalARP. That means the tank may have been covered only by a lower-level hazardous materials program, limiting the regulatory tools available to oversee its storage.

“If you live there, if you are a neighbor, can you go see what chemicals they have stored on site?” asked Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics. “No, you can’t.”

The federal program has not added reactive chemicals to its list of covered substances, despite recommendations from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which investigates chemical accidents. The Trump administration has proposed eliminating funding for the board after October and rolling back 2024 changes to the Risk Management Program that expanded some chemical safety requirements.

California has a similar gap. The California Environmental Protection Agency confirmed to CalMatters that methyl methacrylate is not regulated under the state’s accidental release program.

Orange County health officials said GKN had a hazardous materials business plan, a lower-level document listing chemicals stored at the facility, but did not have a risk management plan. The county said CalARP does not apply to the plant because methyl methacrylate is not on the program’s list of regulated chemicals.

CalMatters also asked the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health whether workplace safety rules for high-risk industrial processes applied to the facility, which could have made it subject to accidental release rules through another route. The facility had been the subject of several occupational safety and health inspections before the tank emergency. Cal/OSHA did not answer the question before deadline.

Williams said chemicals outside federal and state accidental release programs may also be excluded from community emergency planning and drills, leaving nearby residents unsure of the risks or how officials would respond.

GKN did not respond to written questions before deadline. In recent days, the company has thanked the community and emergency responders.

“We recognize that much work remains,” said Steve Carlin, a senior vice president at GKN who oversees programs at the Garden Grove facility.

Angela Johnson Meszaros, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, said residents near facilities such as GKN have reason to believe regulators are ensuring safety.

When something like this happens, she said, people become angry because they wonder, “Wait, nobody was paying attention to this, and now I’m sleeping on the sidewalk?”

She said the broader regulatory system is aimed at bringing companies into compliance, not necessarily ensuring they are safe enough to operate near dense neighborhoods.

“We have a system built around the idea of getting facilities into compliance,” she said. “But we need a system that ensures they operate safely, and some facilities may not have a culture that allows us to trust them with our lives.”

It remains unclear whether any single agency will produce a full public account of what went wrong.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has opened a criminal investigation, spokesperson Kimberly Edds confirmed. Prosecutors sent letters to GKN instructing the company not to destroy or alter evidence.

The office is gathering information through an anonymous tip line about the chemical release, the operation of the facility and the maintenance of the tanks and related systems.

California law makes it a crime to knowingly or negligently handle or store hazardous waste in a way that creates an unreasonable risk of fire, explosion, serious injury or death. Edds declined to say which specific areas of law investigators are examining.

In a similar 2024 case, Alameda County prosecutors charged a scrap metal company after a fire exposed years of alleged hazardous materials violations. Prosecutors later dropped the case, saying they could not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

On the regulatory side, no agency is responsible for issuing one comprehensive report on the Garden Grove incident. Instead, each agency involved in the emergency will prepare its own findings and release them according to its own policies and timeline, said Brian Yau, a spokesperson for the Orange County Fire Authority.

Yau said hazardous materials officials, air quality regulators, environmental officials and the company were developing a cleanup plan for the site. On Friday, the fire authority transferred oversight of cleanup and remediation to the county health agency, fire authority spokesperson Greg Barta said.

Asked whether he was concerned about industrial facilities operating near heavily populated neighborhoods, Newsom praised local and state emergency responders and said the state is reviewing the plant’s safety history. He also acknowledged the difficulty of addressing industrial sites embedded in urban areas.

“When it comes to industrial facilities in and around urban centers,” Newsom said at a Thursday news conference, “that is a more complex geographic issue.”

State Sen. Tom Umberg, a Santa Ana Democrat, said legislation will be proposed in response to the narrowly avoided disaster.

Williams, of California Communities Against Toxics, said the emergency should prompt a broader review of California’s rules for hazardous industrial sites — not only at GKN, but at every facility storing chemicals that fall outside the state’s most rigorous oversight programs.

“Everyone wants to get back to normal as quickly as possible because people’s nerves are frayed, and the way to calm down is to go home, sit on the couch and hug your cat,” Williams said. “But in a situation like this, where such a serious incident occurred, it is critical to make sure the safety systems that failed are not the only ones at risk.”

Original source: CalMatters

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Registrars of voters’ offices in Orange and Riverside counties were evacuated Friday evening after receiving bomb threats, but no explosives were located at either site, authorities said.

All staff and members of the public at the Orange County Registrar of Voters were evacuated from the Santa Ana office 15 minutes before the facility was scheduled to stop processing ballots, officials said in a statement. Orange County sheriff’s deputies were already on site and coordinated evacuating the building at 1300 S. Grand Ave.

Bomb detection dogs were used to search the entire building, and no explosives were found.

“The Orange County Registrar of Voters is committed to ensuring equal access to the election process, protecting the integrity of votes, and maintaining a transparent, accurate and fair election system,” Registrar of Voters Bob Page said in a statement. “We are working diligently to address this incident and keep all staff and members of the public who visit our office safe.”

A similar unfounded threat was also received by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters on Friday evening at its office in Riverside.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was immediately notified, and members of the public and staff were evacuated from the site at 2720 Gateway Drive within five minutes. Sheriff’s deputies and bomb squad members conducted a thorough search and found no explosives, according to the registrar.

“The county of Riverside Registrar of Voters remains committed to the safety of the public and our staff,” officials said in a statement. “We continue to prioritize transparency and encourage the public to observe all processes as we ensure a fair, accurate and transparent election.”

On election day, fake bomb threats were made at dozens of polling locations in swing states such as Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, but none were found to be credible.

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The Airport Fire Local Assistance Center will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Lake Community Center, located at 310 W. Graham Ave.

The Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, Public Health, Housing & Workforce Solutions and other local agencies will be joined by representatives from the California Office of Emergency Services and several nonprofit organizations to provide information on how to procure financial, medical and related aid.

“This is an incredibly difficult time for our residents, and the LAC is here to bring them one step closer to recovery,” according to a Riverside County Emergency Management Department statement.

Additional details are available at RivCoReady.org/recovery.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved an emergency declaration connected to the wildfire, enabling the county to seek state and federal allocations for infrastructure repairs or improvements and general recovery of expenses stemming from the blaze.

As of Wednesday, the fire was about one-third contained, and no mandatory evacuations were active for Lakeland Village, the Trilogy community and surrounding locations along Interstate 15, as was the case a week ago. The area, however, remained under an evacuation warning.

A few communities within the Cleveland National Forest in Riverside County, mostly around the closed Ortega (74) Highway, are still under evacuation orders, though a larger number are in Orange County.

“The county has implemented emergency protective measures to the public by controlling traffic, prohibiting ingress and egress into affected areas due to conditions considered dangerous to lives and property,” according to the EMD.

The Orange County Fire Authority said 14 people have been hurt, mostly firefighters who suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze, many of them heat-related.

Cal Fire said 160 residential, commercial and other structures have been destroyed, and another 34 damaged.

The Airport Fire began early on the afternoon of Sept. 9 near Trabuco Canyon Road in the area of the remote-controlled airplane airport, OCFA Capt. Sean Doran said.

Officials said the fire was sparked by a county public works crew using heavy equipment. The cause was deemed accidental.

It’s estimated the fire will be fully contained by lines of cleared vegetation in one week.

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The abnormal scarcity — compounded by the region’s long-running underproduction of housing — emerged when homeowners chose not to sell and give up pandemic-era mortgage rates. The so-called seller strike helped pushed home values to new records, despite rising borrowing costs.

Now the inventory picture might be changing.

“It’s getting a little bit better,” said Eneida Contreras, a Compass real estate agent who specializes in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

In April, the number of homes listed for sale in most Southern California counties rose from the same month a year earlier, according to data from Zillow.

Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties turned positive for the first time since the first half of 2023, each recording an increase of at least 5%.

Orange was the only county to see a decline, while in San Diego, inventory has risen for two consecutive months and is 18% above what it was a year ago.

To be sure, the availability of homes remains at historically low levels. But as it rises, it opens the possibility that prospective buyers will have an easier time making the largest purchase of their lives.

Jordan Levine, chief economist with the California Assn. of Realtors, said more homes are coming onto the market because owners are increasingly accepting that the new normal is interest rates in the 6%-7% range.

As people get married, divorced and have children, the “benefit of the low rate starts to be outweighed by having a house that doesn’t work,” Levine said. “Ultimately, these are people’s homes, too, and they are not just straight-up investments.”

Levine said he expects inventory levels to increase and home prices to be lower than they would have been if inventory continued to shrink. However, he and other experts said home prices are unlikely to decline. That’s because though more owners are coming to terms with high rates, many will likely choose to keep their sub-4% mortgages — a phenomenon known as the lock-in effect.

Other factors are at play. The economy is growing, and while most Southern California households can’t afford to buy, there’s a sizable population of techies, Hollywood types and other white-collar workers who can funnel excess cash into large down payments that offset high mortgage rates.

“The current level of inventory rise — which is a little bit, but not a lot — is likely to slow price appreciation but not turn it negative,” said Mike Simonsen, founder of Altos Research, a real estate data firm.

The rise in inventory is providing opportunities for buyers with means, but the market is still tough.

Interest rates are above 7%, and even if home prices rise at a slower pace, they will set records.

In Los Angeles County, the average home price in April was $890,516, an increase of 1.4% from March and surpassing the previous record, set in June 2022.

The six-county Southern California region climbed above its 2022 average home price record in March. It set another all-time high last month, reaching $875,388.

If mortgage rates noticeably decline, the lock-in effect could lessen and bring more homes onto the market. Falling mortgage rates would also immediately make housing more affordable.

Whether falling rates provide much relief is another question. Lower borrowing costs may bring a flood of additional buyers who quickly gobble up new listings and supercharge price growth.

“Building more housing is really what is going to break that cycle,” said Nicole Bachaud, a senior economist with Zillow.

According to the latest forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Assn., rates will remain high but will drop to 6.4% by the end of 2024.

Carol Otero of Rodeo Realty is among the Los Angeles agents seeing an increase in inventory. She estimated that the number of homes for sale in some San Fernando Valley neighborhoods has at least doubled in the past few weeks.

Buyers are eager.

Last Friday, Otero listed a four-bedroom home in Northridge. She said she has received six offers, all above the $869,000 asking price.

The post Buying a home in Southern California? There are now more options appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The abnormal scarcity — compounded by the region’s long-running underproduction of housing — emerged when homeowners chose not to sell and give up pandemic-era mortgage rates. The so-called seller strike helped pushed home values to new records, despite rising borrowing costs.

Now the inventory picture might be changing.

“It’s getting a little bit better,” said Eneida Contreras, a Compass real estate agent who specializes in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

In April, the number of homes listed for sale in most Southern California counties rose from the same month a year earlier, according to data from Zillow.

Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties turned positive for the first time since the first half of 2023, each recording an increase of at least 5%.

Orange was the only county to see a decline, while in San Diego, inventory has risen for two consecutive months and is 18% above what it was a year ago.

To be sure, the availability of homes remains at historically low levels. But as it rises, it opens the possibility that prospective buyers will have an easier time making the largest purchase of their lives.

Jordan Levine, chief economist with the California Assn. of Realtors, said more homes are coming onto the market because owners are increasingly accepting that the new normal is interest rates in the 6%-7% range.

As people get married, divorced and have children, the “benefit of the low rate starts to be outweighed by having a house that doesn’t work,” Levine said. “Ultimately, these are people’s homes, too, and they are not just straight-up investments.”

Levine said he expects inventory levels to increase and home prices to be lower than they would have been if inventory continued to shrink. However, he and other experts said home prices are unlikely to decline. That’s because though more owners are coming to terms with high rates, many will likely choose to keep their sub-4% mortgages — a phenomenon known as the lock-in effect.

Other factors are at play. The economy is growing, and while most Southern California households can’t afford to buy, there’s a sizable population of techies, Hollywood types and other white-collar workers who can funnel excess cash into large down payments that offset high mortgage rates.

“The current level of inventory rise — which is a little bit, but not a lot — is likely to slow price appreciation but not turn it negative,” said Mike Simonsen, founder of Altos Research, a real estate data firm.

The rise in inventory is providing opportunities for buyers with means, but the market is still tough.

Interest rates are above 7%, and even if home prices rise at a slower pace, they will set records.

In Los Angeles County, the average home price in April was $890,516, an increase of 1.4% from March and surpassing the previous record, set in June 2022.

The six-county Southern California region climbed above its 2022 average home price record in March. It set another all-time high last month, reaching $875,388.

If mortgage rates noticeably decline, the lock-in effect could lessen and bring more homes onto the market. Falling mortgage rates would also immediately make housing more affordable.

Whether falling rates provide much relief is another question. Lower borrowing costs may bring a flood of additional buyers who quickly gobble up new listings and supercharge price growth.

“Building more housing is really what is going to break that cycle,” said Nicole Bachaud, a senior economist with Zillow.

According to the latest forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Assn., rates will remain high but will drop to 6.4% by the end of 2024.

Carol Otero of Rodeo Realty is among the Los Angeles agents seeing an increase in inventory. She estimated that the number of homes for sale in some San Fernando Valley neighborhoods has at least doubled in the past few weeks.

Buyers are eager.

Last Friday, Otero listed a four-bedroom home in Northridge. She said she has received six offers, all above the $869,000 asking price.

The post Buying a home in Southern California? There are now more options appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Authorities say the suspects operated a heroin ring between March 2017 and this April in Orange County by obtaining the drugs from suppliers in the U.S. and Mexico. Drug mules brought the heroin, sometimes concealed in their bodies, to Southern California.

Two brothers, Julio Cesar Martinez and Victor Martinez, organized the call centers and used two other defendants, Maricela Guerrero and Marla Portillo Cordova, to run the call centers and organize deliveries, according to the indictment.

At one point, a defendant didn’t mention that one of the call centers was closing early, even though more heroin was needed that day for customers.

The suspects also are accused of depositing the money in different bank accounts to avoid federal reporting requirements, an offense that dates to 2013, officials said.

Several other defendants were involved in delivering the narcotic to buyers and collecting money in exchange for a cut of the profits or heroin, the indictment alleged.

Martinez allegedly obtained the heroin from Roberto Romero Sanchez in Mexico and Victor Romero in the United States. The conspiracy allegedly involved couriers to sneak the drug from Mexico to Orange County.

The defendants are:

Julio Cesar Martinez;

Victor Martinez;

Victor Romero Jr.;

Martin Cervantes Romero;

Roberto Romero Sanchez;

Violeta Romero;

Maricela Guerrero;

Marla Portillo Cordova;

Daniel Zapien;

Erik Bright;

Megan Ellis;

Victor Moreta;

Shannon Jacobi;

Hunter Sanders;

Jose Cervantes;

Alicia Carillo Gonzalez;

Angel Cervantes;

Francisco Serrano and;

Alicia Cervantes.

Fox 11 | Contributed

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Now, three of the women who first accused Dr. Robicheaux say they want out of the case after being mistreated and “dragged through the mud” by a district attorney.

The Scandal That Shocked Newport Beach

The case first came to light several years ago, when Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas first announced that Dr. Robicheaux and Riley had been charged with sexually assaulting two women – one in April 2016 and another in October 2016. In both cases, prosecutors say the couple met the women at a restaurant in Newport Beach or bar before bringing them back to Robicheaux’s apartment.

In one case, a woman reached out to the police after waking up in Dr. Robicheaux’s apartment while being sexually assaulted. She screamed for help, leading a neighbor to call 9-1-1. After getting a search warrant to raid his home, police say they found thousands of images and videos of intoxicated women that were filmed by the doctor and his girlfriend. They also found illegal weapons and large quantities of drugs, including ecstasy and cocaine.

A few days after the charges came down, over a dozen people came out with their own allegations against the doctor. At the time, prosecutors described some of these individuals as “potential credible victims.” The allegations went back more than a decade, with several incidents occurring out of state. After sorting through the testimony, the DA announced that it would increase the scope of the investigation to include five additional victims, bringing the total to seven.

“Through the strength of the first two victims, courageous women have come forward, as we believe there are more out there,” said Rackauckas. “Nobody has a pass to rape, to have sexual contact with you when you are past the point of consent.”

Both Robicheaux and Riley pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys dismissed the notion that these encounters were nonconsensual.

“We unequivocally deny all allegations of non-consensual sex and absolutely deny any allegations that we have ever secretly drugged anyone for the purpose of having sex with them,” a statement from the couple read. “We have both passed polygraph tests on each of the questions and we look forward to the truth coming out.”

Backing Out of the Case

The case then went to newly elected Orange County DA Todd Spitzer, who replaced Rackauckas in 2020. Spitzer caused a stir when he announced that prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence to proceed with the case. He also accused Rackauckas, a political rival, of mishandling the initial investigation. In court papers, the new DA described Robicheaux and Riley as swingers and their sexual episodes and drug use as consensual.

“We have represented to the court on multiple occasions that we do not have the evidence to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore we cannot legally, ethically, and morally proceed with the prosecution of this case,” Spitzer said at the time. “My sworn duty is to pursue justice and ensure that the rights of victims and defendants are protected, and we are reviewing the court’s ruling to determine the next steps for this case.” However, Judge Gregory Jones declined to dismiss the case before the victims had a chance to testify.

“The public has heard from the politicians. The public has never heard from the alleged victims. Any objective analysis of this case leads to the conclusion that these charges should be put before a jury,” Jones wrote. “A back-room dismissal by prosecutors without the alleged victims ever having the opportunity to be heard is contrary to the core values of our legal process and the interests of the public.”

Last month, the CA Attorney General’s office filed a motion asking the court to scale back the charges against the couple, citing a lack of evidence.

The attorneys representing the victims were quick to criticize the AG’s decision to dismiss five counts of rape and three counts of kidnapping against Robicheaux and Riley, bringing the scope of the case down to just one victim instead of seven. They also accuse Spitzer and his colleagues of collaborating with the lawyers representing Robicheaux to sabotage the case.

Now, three of the women say they are dropping out of the case. Deputy Attorney General Yvette Martinez said the women “had an elected official who was supposed to advocate on their behalf drag them through the mud.” “They were grossly mistreated,” she added.

In previous comments, law enforcement officials accused the victims of not cooperating with the investigation, but it’s not clear if these are the same women who want to drop out of the case.

Judge Bromberg has indicated that he expects to rule on the AG’s request to dismiss some of the charges against Robicheaux and Riley on July 10th.

STEVEN BRIGGS | Contributed

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He may be only nine years old and little more than 40 inches tall, but young Nick Aguirre has become the star attraction in his father Sebastian Aguirre’s trio that includes Sebastian and his cousin Jason.

The Band Sebastian is no run of the mill garage band making noise rather than music.  Sebastian Aguirre has a master’s degree in music from Cal State Fullerton and currently teaches music at Innovation High School in Lake Elsinore. Sebastian says both Jason and Nick are both exceptional percussionists.  Nick, has been playing with the group since September of 2018.

The proud father says, I pretty much sat him up with a drum set and he has been phenomenal.  He started out like a pro and has continued to develop.  I was intending to teach him the rudiments, paradiddles and drum rolls and discover to mine and everyone’s surprise that he could already play and had an acute sense of rhythm and beat.”

Sebastian and Jason have been playing together for several years but Nick has become the star.  “People come out to see him,” says Sebastian.  “I’ve never seen anything like it.”  He is not just pumping his chest with fatherly pride.  The kid is an astonishing musician.

The Aguirre’s recently moved from Orange County to San Jacinto.  “I have a new home,” says Sebastian, “but I still have some gigs all over Southern California…” Why the San Jacinto Valley?

“The weather, the nature and beautiful mountains around us.  I want to establish my family in this community.”

What kind of music does he feature:

“We are dance rock.  We love it.  We’ll play Mustang Sally and Carlo Santana.  Our sound is like Santa Ana’s.”

They also feature blues rock, Latin rock and dance rock.  “We try to move the crowd with two drummers.  I have a great heart for musicians and contribute to the community through my music.  I really want to help other musicians, especially young folks with a musical aptitude.  It excites me when I can be of assistance in someone’s musical education, especially the youth.  It has become a calling for me.”

(Nine-years-old phenom shines)

He has an affinity for jazz.  “Jason is a real jazz artist, specializing in Latin percussion.  We all seem to be intimately related to jazz.”

He comes by his love of music honestly.  “My mother is a composer of Mariachi music.  She’s been professionally produced.  She grew up in the sixties and seventies – loving the Rolling States and Credence Clearwater Revival.  So I was exposed to different genres of music.”

Young Nick has a voice of his own.  “A couple of days after we moved here my dad brought this really big drum set into the house and right after he seated me in front of them, I just started playing and by dad being one of the best teacher’s in the world, I was encouraged and just kept playing.”

Not in any way a braggart, he added, “There are many drummers better than me, but I’m getting there.  I play for people.”

The band has played at the House of Blues in Anaheim and San Diego.  Also in several Hollywood and North Hollywood clubs. They will be the headliners at The Derby in Hemet this Saturday Night along with two acts that include Mitchell Cortes, who plays acoustical guitar and sings An ambitious and anxious young man, wanting to get on with the interview, Nick raps drum sticks on the table.  “Okay dad, that’s enough.”  Talk about savvy!

The third group, Three Minutes of Playtime, I’ve reviewed   before and found them to be jazz oriented young men ranging in age from 15 to adult.  They are influenced by the sounds and styles of Ellington and Basie and much to everyone’s surprise Jack Teagarden a big band trombonist from the Swinging Years of the thirties and forties.

If you’re interested in an evening of music that sounds like music you might want to take this one in. Plus there is no cover charge – imagine a free concert.  Just sayin’

LOCATION: THE DERBY BAR AND GRILL 2860 W. FLORIDA AVENUE HEMET – 92545 DATE & TIME: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH 8 TO 11PM

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