The closure affects sections of the trail between Yorba Ranch Road and Dominguez Ranch Road, city officials said in a post on X.

There is currently no estimated date for reopening, and repairs are expected to take several months. City officials said the collapse did not impact nearby homes.

The west side of the greenbelt remains open, though the public is advised to use caution when accessing the area.

Repair work will be coordinated by the County of Orange, owner and operator of the channel, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available, the city said.

Trustees, who represent nearly all of Yorba Linda and Placentia and portions of Fullerton, Brea and Anaheim in the pre-K to 12th grade district, are mandated by state law to have a budget in place by a July 1 deadline.

Potential budget reductions are expected to be presented to trustees at a Jan. 20 meeting, with a public hearing on the budget scheduled for a June 2 meeting. Trustees were told at a previous meeting that some $15.6 million in cuts are necessary “to maintain fiscal solvency.”

That figure was increased to $16.1 million at a Dec. 16 meeting during a presentation of a state-required “first interim report” on the district’s financial health since the current budget was adopted in June 2025.

The report, which was due by Dec. 15 to the Orange County Department of Education, carried a “positive assignment,” a designation meaning the district “will meet its financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years.”

The report represents the latest information on revenues, expenditures, deficits, enrollment and other matters for the current fiscal year ending June 30 and projections on these topics for the next two fiscal years.

This year’s enrollment was estimated at 21,726, with projections of 21,338 and 20,950, respectively, for the next two fiscal years. That’s a drop from 25,501 enrolled in 2016-17.

This year’s revenues are estimated at $378.3 million, with projections of $372.3 million and $378.4 million for the next two fiscal years, and this year’s expenditures are estimated at $417.6 million, with projections of $401 million and $400 million for the next two fiscal years.

This year’s deficit is estimated at $39.3 million, with projections of $28.7 million and $21.6 million for the next two fiscal years.

Among the financial challenges listed in the report: declining enrollment, projected low cost-of-living funding from the state the next three years, annual step and column salary increases and rising health benefit premiums for employees and a potential loss of federal funding.

* * *

Trustees again split their votes on the election of board officers to serve throughout 2026. Carrie Buck was selected president, Tricia Quintero vice president and Marilyn Anderson clerk on 3-2 votes. Anderson was president, Buck vice president and Todd Frazier clerk for 2025.

Supporting the choices for the one-year terms were Buck, Quintero and Anderson, while Frazier and Leandra Blades were opposed.

Also, trustees set the starting and ending dates for the 2026-27 school year. First day of classes will be on Thursday, Aug. 13, and the last day of classes will be Thursday, May 27, 2027, both up a week from this year’s dates.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Summer Wilson, Irvine, Senior 

Irvine senior Summer Wilson had a record-setting season.

Wilson set a CIF State Championships record with her winning time of 16 minutes, 20 seconds over the 5,000-meters course at Woodward Park, which has hosted the CIF State meet since its inception in 1987.

She won the CIF Southern Section Division 2 race in the CIF Southern Section Championships in November with a time of 15:14.50 on the “rain course” at Mt. San Antonio College. That is the best time for any high school girl in national cross country history for a 3-mile course.

Wilson also set the course record at Irvine Regional Park with her winning time of 15:47.3 on the 3-mile course for the Orange County Championships in October.

Wilson was proud of all of her achievements, especially the state meet record.

“Being a state champion was a huge goal for me,” Wilson said. “But also breaking the state record and the course record was special.”

She competed in the Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon earlier this month. Her 23rd-place finish in 17:49.70 on a 5,000-meter course was not the greatest finish of her senior year, but qualifying for that national event was a major accomplishment.

Wilson will continue her high school running endeavors in the spring with the track and field season. She was a CIF Southern Section champion last season in the 3,200 meters. Wilson finished seventh in that event at last season’s CIF State Championships.

Next fall she will attend Duke University, which has been a lifelong goal.

“As a kid I envisioned myself attending Duke,” said Wilson, who has a 4.42 grade-point on a weighted scale. “I’ve always wanted to go to a strong academic school.”

Wilson went into this season ready to pursue her huge goals, including pursuing the CIF State finals record of 16:25 set by Sadie Englehardt of Ventura in 2024, a record Wilson broke by an impressive margin.

“It comes down to talent but mostly how hard you’re willing to work,” Wilson said. “I feel like I came in super dedicated. This year meant a lot to me.”

COACH OF THE YEAR

Chase Frazier, JSerra

Chase Frazier led JSerra to CIF State and CIF Southern Section championships this season. The Lions also won the Woodbridge Invitational team championship, the first Orange County girls team to accomplish that.

JSerra became only the second Orange County school to win a CIF Southern Section girls country championship for the fifth season in a row. (Corona del Mar is the other county school to do so.)

Frazier, 40, completed his fifth season as JSerra’s girls cross country coach. He also coaches the school’s boys cross country team, which also won a CIF-SS title this season.

ALL-COUNTY FIRST TEAM

Emma Alba, Beckman, So.

Millie Bayles, Trabuco Hills, Sr.

Taryn Coulston, Santa Margarita, Jr.

Anna Desormeau, Trabuco Hills, Sr.

Carol Dye, Santa Margarita, Jr.

Maya Pawlowicz, JSerra, Fr.

Monserrat Santillan-Silva, Century, Sr.

Lilly Schroeder, El Toro, So.

Brooklyn Tennant, JSerra, Fr.

Summer Wilson, Irvine, Sr.

ALL-COUNTY SECOND TEAM

Ava Crocker, El Toro, So.

Amber Dazey, Tesoro, Sr.

Mackenzie Forrest, Tesoro, Sr.

Reese Holley, JSerra, Jr.

Sedona Sweginnis, San Clemente, Jr.

Alahna Thomas, Santa Margarita, Sr.

Skylar Watts, Trabuco Hills, Sr.

Gweneth Williams, El Toro, Jr.

Kate Woodside, Esperanza, Sr.

Isabella Wrobleski, Yorba Linda, Jr.

The team of the season was the Santa Margarita football team. The Eagles won the top division championships in the CIF Southern Section and the state. They won those two championships while dominating their opponents.

Just as impressive was the manner in which Santa Margarita won those games: with class and discipline.

Touchdown celebrations were free of antics and not the over-the-top, in-your-face gyrations that have become too common among some of Southern California’s championship teams of the last several years.

What was unacceptable years ago has become acceptable to some.

It was refreshing to see Santa Margarita prove that winning with dignity is still attainable. Eagles first-year coach Carson Palmer coaches the way he played.

NOTES

• Santa Margarita senior receiver Trent Mosley is Orange County’s best football player. Mission Viejo senior quarterback Luke Fahey had the best season, so Fahey is the Orange County offensive player of the year. Mosley missed 36 percent of his team’s games, but of course when Mosley did play he usually was the best player on the field. …

• Beckman and Woodbridge advanced to CIF State championship football games. Both teams lost, but just getting to a CIF State championship game is a huge achievement. If you’re a high school football team playing a game after Thanksgiving, you’ve had a great season. …

• The CIF-SS places football teams into playoff divisions according to the current season’s performance, as measured by computerized ratings. It is fine and yet, like every system before it or to come, it is imperfect. It would be great if league champions were guaranteed first-round home games. But if a 16-team division has nine league champions because that’s how the ratings set up a division – Division 7 had eight league champions this season – that’s going to be difficult to accomplish. …

• Mater Dei’s football team lost three games, an astonishing total to some. A closer look: one loss was to Corona Centennial by seven points in a nonleague game; the Monarchs lost to Santa Margarita by one point; and the final loss was to Centennial by one point in the Division 1 playoffs. …

• JSerra hired former NFL star linebacker Hardy Nickerson as its football coach this week, a few days after Nickerson coached Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd to a state championship. Nickerson’s JSerra roster does not have the talent that Palmer inherited at Santa Margarita, so don’t expect the same sort of immediate success. The competition for high school football talent in south county is wild, with Santa Margarita certainly in a position to attract more great players, Mission Viejo and San Clemente will continue to be great destinations and the area’s other public and private schools are viable alternatives, too. …

• Orange County has set its football leagues for the 2026 and ‘27 seasons. The Alpha League, again the county’s top-ranked league — not counting the Trinity League — will be a six-team league, with holdovers Edison, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo and San Clemente being joined by San Juan Hills and Yorba Linda. The next league, the Bravo League, will include Capistrano Valley, Corona del Mar, Crean Lutheran, La Habra, Tustin and Villa Park. …

• The lowest-ranked league is the Tango League. It will have nine teams: Bolsa Grande, Century, Godinez, La Quinta, Loara, Magnolia, Santa Ana Valley, Santiago and Savanna. The Zeta League is no more. …

• The CIF-SS office has figured out a way to discover whether or not a student-athlete who transfers actually has made the change of residence required for immediate athletic eligibility. The office folks won’t say what that method is, because they want to make sure the method remains effective. CIF-SS commissioner Mike West said it best when he told league representatives: “Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ to a transfer.”

• Mater Dei’s girls volleyball team lost to Sierra Canyon in four sets in the CIF-SS Division 1 final. Sierra Canyon clearly was the superior team that day. Ten days later, Mater Dei clearly was the superior team as it defeated  Sierra Canyon in four sets in the CIF Southern California Regional final. Mater Dei went on to beat Rocklin in four sets in the CIF State Open Division championship match. …

• Newport Harbor boys water polo has enjoyed some splendid seasons in its history. This season is up there with the best of them. The mega-talented Sailors, including Orange County player of the year Kai Kaneko, beat Cathedral Catholic 14-12 in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I final to cap a 33-1 season that included winning the CIF-SS Open Division championship. …

• JSerra’s flag football teams went 28-0, including a 25-20 win over Orange Lutheran in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game. Orange Lutheran finished 24-3, with all three losses to JSerra: 21-20, 18-7 and 25-20. …

• Flag football is growing so rapidly it might be the next sport to have CIF State playoffs. …

• Irvine senior Summer Wilson won the CIF State Division II cross country championship with a course record of 16 minutes, 20 seconds at Woodward Park in Fresno. …

• JSerra’s girls cross country team won a CIF-SS championship for the fifth year in a row. The only other Orange County girls cross country program to do that was Corona del Mar, 2004-08. …

• Century senior Monserrat Santillan-Silva finished 56th in the Division 4 race at the CIF Southern Section Finals last year. She won the Division 4 title this year. …

• CIF-SS and CIF State divisions need to change for cross country. JSerra’s girls again were in Division IV, but in terms of competitive quality that is a top-division program. Divisions in cross country are set by enrollment, and now it’s time for the sport to seek a way to place teams in the correct divisions. …

• The girls golf teams at JSerra, Portola and Santa Margarita won CIF-SS championships. Santa Margarita also won the CIF State title. …

• Corona del Mar’s girls tennis team went undefeated through winning CIF-SS and CIF SoCal Regional championships before losing to Los Altos 4-3 in the state finals to finish 24-1.

The City Council unanimously backed a resolution on Tuesday, Dec. 16, stipulating that Yorba Linda should assist the Orange County registrar of voters in identifying suitable venues for vote centers, which offer a range of services to voters on and in the days leading up to Election Day.

Wait times at the vote center at the Yorba Linda Library, especially on Election Day, were particularly long, Councilmember Tara Campbell, who put forth the resolution, said. While Yorba Linda generally has high turnout rates in elections, Campbell said part of the issue stemmed from a solar canopy project underway at the library that eliminated about half of its parking. The library is also rather busy in general, she said.

The only other vote center in Yorba Linda for the special election was held at the Canyon Center, a strip mall off Yorba Linda Boulevard that Campbell said might not be as familiar to residents as the library.

“My hope is that we can have a working relationship with the registrar of voters to find a location might not be the right one for right now,” Campbell said in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

“For the situation that we had with the constraints on the parking (at the library), I would have liked for us to suggest another location that was more conducive to the parking, but also a recognizable location for our residents,” Campbell said.

Yorba Linda wasn’t alone in experiencing long wait times at vote centers on Nov. 4, the final day for Californians to cast ballots in the special election on redistricting.

Data from the county registrar of voters show centers in Fullerton, La Habra, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, among others, also reported multiple instances throughout the day when voters had at least a 20-minute wait time.

“Yorba Linda Library had consistently long lines throughout Election Day, which is normal as most voters choose to vote on Election Day,” Aimara Freeman, a spokesperson for the registrar of voters, said in an email.

The Yorba Linda Library vote center served 1,635 voters on Election Day, the most of any of the 66 vote centers in the county, Freeman said. The Canyon Center location, meanwhile, served 1,096 voters, ranking it at No. 29.

However, the registrar’s office also noted that the last voter at the Yorba Linda Library checked in at 9:04 p.m. Yet, 24 other vote centers reported even later last check-in times, Freeman said. (While polls closed on Election Day at 8 p.m., voters who were in line by that time were still allowed to cast their ballots.)

Campbell acknowledged the long wait times were not unique to Yorba Linda. But it’s her city that is her concern, she said.

“My hope with this (resolution) is to avoid this for the future,” Campbell said. “Voting should be a top priority. We should hopefully make it convenient to park, to go in and vote, and to be civically engaged.”

There was no public comment or robust discussion from the City Council dias before the resolution passed unanimously.

Mayor Carlos Rodriguez said the last thing people want to do at the end of their days is wait in a long line to vote. “To ensure they (voters) have the best experience possible is a priority for us,” he said.

The registrar’s office said Yorba Linda has already confirmed a room in the Yorba Linda Library would be available to host a vote center for 11 days in the upcoming 2026 primary and general elections, as well as a four-day location at the Thomas Lasorda Jr. Field House on Casa Loma Avenue. The office hopes to secure an additional three locations for vote centers for those elections as well.

Campbell said the solar project impacting the library’s parking should be completed before the June primary — and she isn’t suggesting the library would not be a good location in the future.

“It was just this time. We weren’t expecting an election this cycle,” she said. “But we’re the people who know Yorba Linda. It would be helpful for us to give helpful advice on where to go, where it’s not going to be crazy on a Tuesday night.”

More than 999,900 voters cast ballots in Orange County, with 55.48% of those approving Proposition 50, the redistricting ballot measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats.

According to data from the registrar’s office, 29,164 Yorba Linda residents cast ballots in that election.

Yorba Linda also tallied the highest voter turnout percentage and the highest mail-in voter percentage of the seven cities.

And interestingly, voters who cast ballots at vote centers in all of the cities except Fullerton opposed the measure, while voters who cast ballots by mail in all of the cities except Yorba Linda favored the measure.

Here’s a rundown of the final vote count in the special election:

Brea: Turnout was 54% or 16,673 of 30,883 registered voters, with “yes” winning 51.7% or 8,626 votes to 8,038 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 8,083 to 7,027 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 543 to 1,011 “no.”

Buena Park: Turnout was 44.9% or 20,888 of 46,501 registered voters, with “yes” winning 60.5% or 12,637 votes to 8,239 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 11,393 to 6,796 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 1,244 to 1,443 “no.” The measure won all five council districts.

Fullerton: Turnout was 50.5% or 41,365 of 81,917 registered voters, with “yes” winning 60.2% or 24,887 votes to 16,459 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 22,262 to 13,987 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 2,625 to 2,472 “no.” The measure won all five council districts.

La Habra: Turnout was 48% or 17,184 of 35,771 registered voters, with “yes” winning 59.3% or 10,184 votes to 6,986 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 9,234 to 5,754 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 950 to 1,232 “no.”

La Palma: Turnout was 51.1% or 5,183 of 10,150 registered voters, with “yes” winning 57.5% or 2,979 votes to 2,201 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 2,797 to 1,930 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 182 to 271 “no.” The measure won all five council districts.

Placentia: Turnout was 54.7% or 18,269 of 33,384 registered voters, with “yes” winning 52.9% or 9,657 votes to 8,607 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 8,752 to 7,223 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 905 to 1,384 “no.” The measure won three council districts and lost District 2 by seven votes and District 4 by 360 votes.

Yorba Linda: Turnout was 58.9% or 29,164 of 49,521 registered voters, with “no” winning 59.9% or 17,478 votes to 11,674 “yes.” Mail-in “no” ballots totaled 14,704 to 10,849 “yes,” and vote center “no” ballots totaled 2,774 to 825 “yes.”

The Orange County turnout was 52.3% or 999,918 of 1,910,326 registered voters, with “yes” winning 55.4% or 554,430 votes to 444,963 “no.” Mail-in “yes” ballots totaled 504,362 to 377,426 “no,” and vote center “yes” ballots totaled 50,068 to 67,537 “no.”

The statewide tally was 64.4% “yes” (7,453,339) and 35.6% “no” (4,116,998).

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

Santa Margarita last December made a “splash” hire when it announced that Carson Palmer would be the school’s football coach.

Palmer had been a great quarterback at Santa Margarita who went on to win the Heisman Trophy at USC before having a long and distinguished career in the NFL. This season, Palmer led the Eagles to a share of the Trinity League championship and to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title.

The Eagles play in the CIF State Open Division championship game Saturday at Saddleback College against Concord De La Salle.

Santa Margarita’s season included a regular-season nonleague win over Centennial and a league win over Mater Dei.

Palmer assembled a coaching staff that includes A-list names like former NFL quarterback Doug Johnson to coach quarterbacks, former NFL receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh to coach receivers, former NFL punter Mike Scifres to coach kickers and former USC assistant coach Lenny Vandermade as offensive coordinator. Palmer also retained Steve Fifita as defensive coordinator.

The Palmer hire also attracted some outstanding transfers, too.

Among them are senior quarterback Trace Johnson, who moved to the area from Florida. Johnson has played his best during the playoffs, including throwing for 386 yards and four touchdowns in the CIF-SS Division 1 final.

Two of the top players for Santa Margarita, Simote Katoanga and Ninava Nicholson, transferred from JSerra for this season. Katoanga, a senior defensive end, was All-Orange County second team last season at JSerra. This season he has been the Eagles’ fourth-leading tackler. Nicholson, a senior, is Santa Margarita’s best offensive lineman.

It’s one thing to lose transfers. Losing transfers to a top local competitor and a league rival was a reason JSerra removed Victor Santa Cruz as its football coach on Nov. 1. The Lions lost to Santa Margarita 41-14 on Oct. 31, the final day of the regular season.

Chris Fore runs the EightLaces.org consulting firm that helps coaches land coaching jobs. He was the football coach at Capistrano Valley Christian, has experience as an athletic director and in school administration and currently is the principal at Mojave High, an alternative school in Mojave.

Fore said hiring a name-brand coach might not be the best decision for JSerra.

“That’s probably what JSerra thinks they need to do,” Fore said. “I don’t necessarily agree with that line of thought.”

Instead, Fore said, JSerra should consider hiring someone with abundant high school coaching experience, someone who knows the Trinity League and Southern California high school football landscape.

“I tell coaches and athletic directors, principals and administrators this all the time,” Fore said. “Is that the No. 1 mistake you guys make is after you go ahead and build your candidate profile – ‘What should he or she look like, what kind of experience do they have, what kind of person that person is’ – is they don’t stick to that candidate profile and instead they get that shiny object who doesn’t fit their coaching candidate profile.”

The best example of the best type of coach for JSerra to hire, Fore said, is already on campus – baseball coach Brett Kay. Kay was at Capistrano Valley Christian, briefly overlapping with Fore’s tenure there, before getting hired at JSerra. Kay has coached Lions to Trinity League, CIF Southern Section and CIF Southern California Regional championships.

“Brett came from this tiny school and didn’t have any kind of name recognition,” Fore said.

Name recognition, though, might be a top priority as JSerra zeroes in on its next football coach. A name that would create waves when the school makes its announcement next week.

NOTES

• Teams in the CIF State championship football games will be playing their 15th or 16th games this season. That’s too much football for high school athletes. People will say that the kids want to play these games so let them, but just because high school kids want to do something that might not be in their best interests doesn’t mean we should let them do it. …

• Woodbridge football head coach Connor McBride played football at the school. Offensive coordinator Rick Gibson was the head coach when Woodbridge won a CIF-SS championship in the 1990s. Quarterbacks coach John Halagan coached Woodbridge basketball to a CIF-SS title and is a longtime football assistant. Assistant coach Cliff Nelson has been at the school since it opened in the 1980s, as have Gibson and Halagan, and the other assistant coaches are ex-Woodbridge players. Woodbridge plays Redding Christian in the CIF State 7-AA championship game at Fullerton High on Saturday at 11 a.m. …

• Orange County football leagues are 90-plus percent set for the 2026 and ‘27 school years. For certain, the top league will grow from being the current four-team league to a six-team league with its membership being Edison, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, San Juan Hills and Yorba Linda. The bottom league will grow from being a five-team league to a nine-team league. …

• JSerra’s boys soccer team, which won CIF-SS Open Division and CIF Southern California Regional Division I championships a year ago, started this season 1-1. The Lions beat Woodbridge 1-0 last week and lost to Santa Monica 4-2 on Wednesday. The loss to Santa Monica was JSerra’s first home loss since the 2023-24 season. …

• The semifinals of the North Orange County Championships boys basketball tournament on Friday at Sonora: Heritage Christian vs. Canyon, 6 p.m.; Etiwanda vs. Rancho Verde, 7:30 p.m. Also on Friday at Sonora is Cypress vs. Orange Lutheran at 4:30 p.m. The championship game is Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Sonora.

Travel back to 1773 and dump a chest of tea off the stern of a boat into a makeshift Boston Harbor.

Take a close look at an 1820 engraving of the Declaration of Independence, commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams when the original document was becoming faded and difficult to read.

Read, in his own handwriting, a letter President Abraham Lincoln sent to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, detailing what needed to be done to end the Civil War.

Watch the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy” and discuss how television became an integral part of American lives.

These interactive and carefully curated activities are just a few parts of the Nixon Library’s “America 250: A More Perfect Union” exhibit that highlights various points of American history: from colonial America and the Revolution to the Civil War and the country’s growing pains, to two world wars and innovation that still impacts daily lives today, to the Cold War, to finally a retrospective on the country’s bicentennial in 1976.

“You’ll learn a lot about some of the most important events in American history that have shaped our country and have helped advance our founders’ original vision for a more perfect union,” said the exhibit’s author and curator Bob Bostock, who first worked for the presidential library in 1990.

Bostock pointed to the country’s 200th celebration — commemorated in the new exhibit as the final of its six sections — and the collective mood in the mid-1970s in the U.S. Between the resignation of President Richard Nixon and the fall of Saigon, the country was not particularly optimistic, Bostock noted.

But before his resignation, Nixon encouraged the whole country to participate in bicentennial celebrations, rather than just one city hosting a world fair-type celebration.

“We wanted to end on that note because as we are about to enter next year, 2026, the U.S. is also kind of, in terms of the mood of the country, in the same place,” said Bostock.

“Let’s remind people that this can be an opportunity to reflect on our history, on all of the things that we’ve achieved and all of the progress we’ve made over the past 250 years to be a more perfect union,” he said.

Several parts of the exhibit are hands-on, Bostock noted, including an activity at the beginning that allows visitors to participate in the Boston Tea Party political protest by pushing a lever and dropping a chest of tea off the stern of a boat. Visitors can also view one of Thomas Edison’s earliest motion pictures or strike gold at Sutter’s Mill during the Gold Rush.

And there are also artifacts borrowed from all over the country, from Louis Armstrong’s trumpet — this lets visitors explore one of America’s cultural exports, jazz, said Bostock — to a welder’s mask that women who went to work at factories during World War II, credited with the beginning of modern feminism, would have worn.

Visitors might also enjoy seeing one of Mickey Mantle’s New York Yankees hats or viewing the sword presented to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower by the city of London for his role in World War II.

And that’s not to mention an original portrait of George Washington by American painter Gilbert Stuart, Bob Dylan’s harmonica and other artifacts Bostock is keeping mum about, so visitors have a bit of a surprise.

To borrow a line from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus — another American product — the exhibit will be fun for “children of all ages,” said Bostock.

“As we’re all thinking about the 250th anniversary of the country, it’s important to reflect on where we are, how we got our start and how we got to where we are today,” Bostock said.

“By knowing more about parts of our history that really helped change the character and direction of the U.S., that will give people a greater understanding and appreciation for how this country was at its beginning: very unique in the world, and it continues to be very unique in human history.”

The Nixon Library is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission to the special exhibit is included with admission to the Nixon Library. The “America 250: A More Perfect Union” exhibit will be open through 2026.

Nixon holiday: The Nixon Presidential Library & Museum will host Stars, Stripes & Christmas Lights from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9. There will be patriotic-themed holiday decor, a 5 p.m. tree lighting, photos with Santa Claus and his reindeer, entertainment and more.

Visitors will be able to stroll the gardens, which will be lit with candles. There will be food trucks for getting something to eat. General admission is $45. Tickets and information: nixonfoundation.org.

It’s a tree decorating, of sorts, but not with just any old red-and-green bulbous ornaments.

Instead, one by one, the names of those lost are read out, and their family members or loved ones are handed a personalized ornament commemorating the deceased, which they then place on the Christmas tree. It’s a holiday tradition that honors the ultimate sacrifice of these families — and keeps their loved ones’ memories alive.

“It’s something for Gold Star families during the holidays when they may be feeling more lonely or hurt or lost,” said Gary Brattain, who has participated in the ceremony since its beginning in honor of his son, Pfc. Joel Brattain, who was killed in March 2004 in Iraq.

This year’s Honoring Hometown Heroes ceremony will be held at the Yorba Linda Public Library on Sunday, Dec. 7 — and it’s likely to be the last.

Wayne and Cindy Scott, Yorba Linda residents who are both in their 70s, started the tradition in 2010. It was only supposed to be a one-time event, honoring specifically Gold Star families in Orange County post-Sept. 11.

But it was so well-received, and touched so many families, that they decided to keep it going, said Wayne Scott, who is himself a retired Air Force colonel.

From there, it grew.

About 15 families participated that first year — this is an estimate, Scott said; they didn’t realize how monumental an event it would become and didn’t keep all their records from 2010 — and since, they’ve hosted more than 50 families some years. Gold Star families from all around the country, and even Vietnam, have attended, too, to honor their loved ones, Scott said.

They’ve also opened it up to those who may not fall under certain definitions of Gold Star, either.

A father whose daughter was on board United Flight 175, one of the hijacked planes flown into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, has attended the ceremony for several years, Scott said. And then there is a son whose father is still considered unaccounted for in the Korean War, despite reports that he had been killed while a prisoner of war.

“The connection we’ve established with the Gold Star families has been remarkable,” said Scott. “They very much believe that as long as there is some form of recognition of their loved ones, they will never be forgotten.

“That’s why it means a lot to us, because it means a lot to them.”

The tree ceremony had long been held at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, and the Scotts could utilize not only its space but also its staff and fundraising resources.

But since last year, the Scotts have had to find a new venue and take on the majority of the work. There’s sending invitations to families, finding and buying unique ornaments, personalizing each ornament with a special dog tag, securing fundraising and donations for the event and putting together a special PowerPoint presentation, to name just a few of their planning duties.

There are volunteers, of course, Wayne Scott noted, particularly several of Cindy Scott’s fellow Nixon Library docents.

But Cindy Scott is experiencing some health issues, her husband said, and they’ve decided to make this year their last putting on the event.

“It’s been a labor of love, but it does take us months to do it,” said Wayne Scott.

“While we love the Gold Star families and love how they’ve received the ceremony, we simply decided we couldn’t continue to do it,” he said.

Brattain, whose wife, Elaine Brattain, is also very involved in helping Gold Star families, said the ceremony has served as a holiday tradition for many families who don’t live in communities that honor lost service members.

“No one wants to remember war; no one wants to remember loss,” Gary Brattain, of Brea, said. “We have a saying, ‘If you say their names, it keeps them alive.’ When they do a ceremony like this, and they call out their names, they’re alive. They’re still there for that family.”

Sunday’s Honoring Hometown Heroes event is open to the public. It will be held at Yorba Linda Public Library, 4852 Lakeview Ave., at 1 p.m., and will honor 45 families, said Cindy Scott.

The Troy High School Navy Junior ROTC will present the colors, with music provided by the Band of the California Battalion, Southern California’s Civil War reenactment band. Rear Adm. Ronne Froman, the first woman to command U.S. Navy Region Southwest, is scheduled to be the guest presenter.

Like many other events and plans and activities, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the Honoring Hometown Heroes ceremony in 2020, and the Scotts took a step back the following year because Cindy Scott had a major health crisis. Some Gold Star families stepped up and took it over that year, Wayne Scott recalled.

“Is someone else going to pick it up after this year? I do not know,” Scott said.

Reductions are deemed essential because of anticipated increases in the district’s deficit spending and predicted declines in enrollment, with the latest estimates presented at a November study session by Joan Velasco, interim assistant superintendent of business services.

The district’s deficit was $6.4 million at the end of the last school year, which, she said, is expected to jump to $15.6 million for the current school year, with projected deficits of $13 million for 2026-27 and $11.9 million for 2027-28.

Enrollment drops have been steep since the 25,826 students attending in the 2015-16 school year, Velasco said: there were 3,128 fewer students in the 2024-25 school year and a projected 4,330 fewer students in the 2027-28 school year, declines of 12% and 17%, respectively.

Trustees were asked to draw up individual lists of their top three items to protect from reductions and their top three items to include in potential reductions to submit to Superintendent Kim LeBlanc-Esparza.

She will then work with her executive cabinet and a budget reduction committee to develop a list of budget reductions to present to trustees in January. State law requires a budget for 2026-27 to be in place by July 1.

One example of a potential reduction mentioned is extending the bus replacement cycle, which, it was noted, could save money, but also might increase maintenance costs. Other reductions mentioned could include increasing student walking distances to schools and cutting overtime costs.

But, as Velasco noted, 86% of the budget involves employee salaries and benefits, so reducing personnel costs will be a major factor in developing the list of reductions.

* * *

Issaic Gates, who was placed by the newly constituted school board, along with six other administrators, on paid administrative leave from his deputy superintendent position Dec. 19, 2024, on a 5-0 vote, resigned effective Nov. 7. He was named executive director of human services at the 3,100-student Beverly Hills Unified School District on a 4-0 vote with one abstention Nov. 4 on a contract that runs until July 1.

Gates was named assistant superintendent of human services in the Placentia-Yorba Linda district on June 6, 2023, and promoted to deputy superintendent on Feb. 14, 2024. He joins former Placentia-Yorba Linda superintendent Alex Cherniss, who was named superintendent of the Beverly Hills district on a 3-2 vote April 10 on a three-year contract.

Cherniss was hired in the Placentia-Yorba Linda district on a 5-0 vote April 18, 2023, and placed on paid administrative leave in that same a 5-0 vote. Gates had served as San Marino High School principal 2017-20. Cherniss was superintendent of the San Marino Unified School District 2014-18.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.