Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 322

Pro Soccer: Union close home season with loss to Colorado Springs

SEASIDE — Seeing their playoffs hopes dashed earlier in the week, the final two matches of the season are being treated as more of an audition.

The disappointment of failing to reach the postseason for the third straight year could signal changes in 2025 for Monterey Bay F.C., who dropped its home match 1-0 Saturday to Colorado Springs.

A cleaning house of the coaching staff on July 31 didn’t change the room temperature inside the clubhouse, as the Union were just 1-6-4 under new coach Jordan Stewart.

At 8-15-10, the Union will finish with their lowest point total in their three-year existence, regardless of next week’s season finale in Tulsa in the United Soccer League Championship.

The Union went a record 11 consecutive matches without a win, going from July 6 through October 4 before beating defending USL champion Phoenix on the road.

While a win and a tie in its previous two matches gave Monterey Bay F.C. a heartbeat, the three-month winless drought put them in a hole too big to climb back into playoff contention, as it can finish no higher than 10th in the Western Conference.

Injuries crippled the Union all season, particularly the offense, where their leading scorer Tristan Trager missed his fifth straight game, while franchise single season goal record holder Alex Dixon also missed Saturday’s the match.

The Union went into their final home match at Cardinale Stadium ranked 22nd among 24 teams in the USL with 28 goals, having failed to produce a goal on the pitch in 13 matches this season.

Ironically in the Union’s last match with Colorado Springs, they dropped a 1-0 decision. This was the first time in six matches that the visiting team won.

The Switchbacks are one of eight teams in the Western Conference heading to the postseason at 14-12-7, sharing the third seed with one match left until the postseason begins.

Somewhat overshadowed in the frustration of failing to make the postseason was the effort of the Union’s defense all year, anchored by the teams two-time defensive MVP in Kai Greene.

Monterey Bay F.C. held eight teams without a goal this season, with goalkeepers Antony Siaha and Carlos Herrera among the league leaders in save percentage. Siaha, who hasn’t played in six weeks, still leads the USL in saves with 102.

 

College football: Ellison, Gibson propel undefeated MPC past Coalinga

MONTEREY — The highlight reel tells quite a story. Yet, until you witness it in person, you can’t fully appreciate the talents of Devin Ellison.

Come up and face guard the Monterey Peninsula College receiver and he’ll blow past you. Give him the respect he deserves, and Ellison will take a short pass and explode into the open field or tap dance down the sidelines.

“We knew this last year,” MPC coach Ronnie Palmer said. “We just weren’t able to use him last year. Devin has stayed very hungry and humble. This is shaping up to be a career year for him.”

Ellison was on the receiving end of three first half touchdowns Saturday from Eric Gibson, including a 73-yarder as the Lobos remained undefeated after a 38-21 win over visiting Coalinga.

One of five teams still undefeated in the state, the reigning three-time American Golden Coast Conference champions stretched their conference winning streak to 12 games.

MPC is 17-1 in conference play since head coach Ronnie Palmer took over the program, with that one loss ironically coming from Coalinga in 2022 at home.

“Coalinga came in 2-0 in conference,” Palmer said. “And we haven’t forgotten that loss. But this game today was about us. We have some stuff to clean up. I can’t wait to get to the film. It was fun to see our guys grow up a little bit.”

The remainder of the Lobos’ schedule includes four teams that are a combined 5-18 this year.

“I think our energy stays focused on our goals,” Palmer said. “We’re maturing. The 1-0 standard each week is showing up. Our team has matured from our first scrimmage.”

Injuries left the Lobos with just 48 players in uniform as the sidelines resembled a MASH unit. Yet, those who are healthy continue to execute in all three phases of the game.

“We’re deep at a number of positions,” Palmer said. “Injuries are a part of football. One thing we have is a next man up mentality of players. I’m excited to see them grow as a team.”

Ellison, who came into the game averaging 72 receiving yards a game, had that on one catch, going over 100 yards in the first half alone. The freshman receiver has eight touchdown catches in six games to lead the conference.

“He’s better than any receiver I’ve ever coached,” Palmer said. “It’s not just his ability to make plays. He blocks very well, breaks tackles and does things after the catch. He’s an FBC player. Some of the unselfish acts are the best plays for us.”

Playing its first home game since Sept. 21, MPC has held its last four opponents to 21 points or less, with Jayden Friedt picking off a pass for the second straight game, his fourth of the season.

A ball-hawking defense that returned six interceptions for touchdowns in 2023, the Lobos have intercepted 16 passes this fall, having gotten stronger in the secondary with the return of Maurice Mathis, who had a pick along with Jaki Thomas.

“Jayden just processes the game,” Palmer said. “Maurice’s one-handed interception was phenomenal. There are a lot of guys that are starting to figure it out.”

For the first time in two weeks, the Lobos weren’t playing from behind as Gibson engineered the opening drive, hitting Ellison on a fourth-and-1 from the 1-yard line for a touchdown.

The ability to air it out in the first half softened up the Falcons’ defense, enabling the state’s leading rusher to get loose when Kieryus Boone bolted 70 yards for a touchdown run in the second half.

“I’m sure their game plan was to stop our run game,” Palmer said. “We pride ourselves on getting the ball to our playmakers.”

Special teams continue to be a strength for the Lobos, as Joey Fernandez sent two kickoffs into the end zone, while averaging over 40 yards a punt. Salinas graduate Isaac Mancera added a second-half field goal.

“We didn’t play great defense in the second half,” Palmer said. “But the offense had some mighty big plays to put the game away. We had some adversity this week — family issues and personal challenges. It was nice to see the guys have some fun.”

Merced 21, Hartnell 14

Nobody waits for the growing pains to subside. A week after going on the road for their first win, a second-half comeback fell short in the Panthers’ loss at Merced.

Having improved throughout the season in a 1-5 start — including holding leads in three games, Hartnell failed to produce a point in the first half for the first time all season.

As a result, it found itself starring at a 21-point deficit in the third quarter before Dominic Chavez was brought in to quarterback the offense in the second half.

The former Soledad High signal caller engineered a pair of scoring drives in the second half, hitting Anzar product Max Castro on a 22-yard touchdown pass, and North Salinas graduate Justin Pascone on a 3-yard scoring toss with 1:55 remaining.

Chavez, who transferred to Hartnell this fall as a receiver/defensive back, has been behind center in five of the Panthers six games this season with two starts. He threw for 233 yards, with 12 of his 28 completions going to Castro, who had 141 receiving yards.

Hartnell has been forced to platoon quarterbacks after the loss of Adam Shaffer, who accounted for 18 touchdowns last year and the first three this season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Minus the 36-point eruption in last week’s win at Yuba, the Panthers have struggled offensively all season, averaging 10.6 points a game in its five losses without Shaffer behind center.

Elijah Perkins collected two more interceptions for Hartnell, while Isaiah Williams had one. Michael Hatten and Khameron Perkins both had five tackles.

Hartnell will search for its first home win  and its first conference win next Saturday when it faces Cabrillo, which went into the weekend winless on the season.

Sources: Warriors waive Kevin Knox as roster takes shape

The Warriors are waiving Kevin Knox II, sources told this news organization, giving the wing a chance to latch on with another team or pursue opportunities elsewhere.

Knox, still just 25 years old, had a strong Summer League and training camp for the Warriors. He averaged 17.5 points per game in four Summer League contests, shooting 46% overall.

The Warriors are also waiving Jackson Rowe and Blake Hinson. Their Exhibit 10 contracts incentivize them to stick with the organization with the G League Santa Cruz Warriors.

The deadline to make decisions on players under training camp deals was 2 p.m.

Golden State had signed Knox to a non-guaranteed training camp deal. The ninth pick in the 2018 draft started his career with the Knicks before spending time with the Hawks, Pistons and Blazers.

In 306 career NBA games, Knox has averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds. At 6-foot-7, he has the potential to play either the three or the four in small-ball lineups as a floor-spacer.

Rowe and Hinson, each undrafted players, had solid camps as similarly rangy wings. Rowe, 27, averaged 9.7 points in  16 games for the Santa Cruz Warriors last year. Hinson last starred at Pittsburgh as a senior, shooting a career-best 42.1% from 3 while averaging 18.5 points.

The Warriors’ roster is likely set at 14, with one roster slot left open. At the moment, Golden State is too close to their first-apron hard cap to fill their 15th spot. Their three two-way players are rookie Quinten Post, steady guard Pat Spencer and undrafted guard out of Virginia Reece Beekman.

Here are the 14 rostered Warriors players heading into next week’s regular season debut.

Guards: Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Brandin Podziemski

Wings: Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Gary Payton II, Buddy Hield, Lindy Waters III, Gui Santos

Bigs: Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Kyle Anderson, Trayce Jackson-Davis

Two-ways: Spencer, Post, Beekman

Panetta Institute’s Jefferson-Lincoln Award: Three leaders in the military and intelligence agencies to be honored locally

SEASIDE >> The Panetta Institute for Public Policy will honor three leaders at the 2024 Jefferson-Lincoln Awards next month.

This year the awards will be presented to CIA Director William Burns, Naval Postgraduate School President Ann Rondeau and Chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Intelligence Mike Turner at a black-tie gala dinner to be held at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, Nov. 16.

“A secure nation is essential to the health of our democracy,” Institute Chairman and Co-Founder Leon E. Panetta said in a press release. “Our military and intelligence agencies are central to protecting America’s national security.”

Panetta, the former Secretary of Defense added the Institute is proud to honor the three leaders, saying  “They are examples of the kind of bipartisan leadership that is critical to the future of the United States.”

Burns has served six presidents and administrations of both parties during nearly four decades of public service in diplomacy and intelligence. He was name CIA director in March 2021. He is the first career diplomat to serve as director. He has served as Deputy Secretary of State and Career Ambassador in the Foreign Service, equivalent to a four-star general. He also was ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008. Burns has been given numerous awards for service in the Department of State, including three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and two Distinguished Honor Awards.

Rondeau was appointed as the 13th President of the Naval School in 2019. She has experience in strategy development and policy advisory roles at the highest levels of the Department of Defense. She retired from the Navy as a three-star admiral in 2012, only the second woman to have achieved that rank.

Rep. Turner joined the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2015 and was appointed chairman in 2023. He has said he believes that sharing intelligence with congressional leaders, working in a bipartisan manner and establishing industry partnerships are crucial for the success of the committee. Turner was elected to Congress in 2002 where he serves as a subcommittee chairman on the House Armed Services Committee.

The Jefferson-Lincoln gala also serves as a fundraiser to help support The Panetta Institute for Public Policy and its mission to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service and equipping them with the practical skills of self-government. The gala will feature a four-course meal. Sponsor tables for the gala event are available for $15,000 with seating for 10 guests. Individual seats are $750. For more information, call the Institute at (831) 582-4200 or visit panettainstitute.org.

Like McCaffrey and Purdy, Pearsall will make 49ers’ debut against Chiefs

SANTA CLARA — Like Christian McCaffery and Brock Purdy before him, Ricky Pearsall Jr. will play his first game with the 49ers Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Exactly how much Pearsall plays and his role will be determined by coach Kyle Shanahan, who saw what he needed to see after just three days of practice to determine the rookie first-round draft pick was ready to face the two-time defending Super Bowl champions at Levi’s Stadium.

Pearsall was officially elevated from the non-football injury list Saturday to the 53-man roster. Place kicker Matthew Wright (shoulder) was placed on injured reserve, with kicker Anders Carlson and safety Jaylen Mahoney promoted as weekly standard practice squad elevations.

Throwing Pearsall into the mix this fast is a leap of faith, although less of a leap than what he’s already survived.

Well before Pearsall was shot in a robbery attempt on Aug. 31 at Union Square, he was dealing with a shoulder subluxation, which amounts to a partial separation. His time in training camp was limited.

“Ricky’s been studying, he’s been getting a ton of stuff,” Shanahan said Friday. “I know he’ll get better as the year goes so we understand that with our expectations. Missing all the practice, missing some time, makes it harder schematically and getting out of the huddle. But he’s working his butt off to catch up. He’s gotten better each day. I know he’ll get better each week.”

McCaffery and Purdy can relate.

When the 49ers host the Chiefs, it will mark the two-year anniversary of the day McCaffery was acquired by trade from the Carolina Panthers. He arrived on a Friday, and managed to learn enough plays to see time for the 49ers’ Week 7 game against the Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium.

Shae Hammond/Bay Area News GroupBrock Purdy (13) of the 49ers eludes Kansas City’s Deon Bush (26) in his pro debut at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 23, 2022.

McCaffrey carried eight times for 38 yards and caught two passes for 24 more in a 44-23 loss to the Chiefs. In the 49ers’ last possession of that game, Purdy, a rookie seventh-round pick out of Iowa State, was inserted in place of Jimmy Garoppolo for his first playing time in an NFL game.

Purdy drove the 49ers deep into Chiefs territory and was 4 of 9 for 66 yards before throwing a pass into the end zone intended for Jauan Jennings that was intercepted by Juan Thornhill.

Now 33 starts into his professional career including playoff games, Purdy looks back on that day with some amusement.

“My mind was going pretty fast,” Purdy said. “So to see how I was feeling and everything in that moment a couple of years ago, all the way until now, it’s pretty funny.”

With Pearsall getting short of breath out of excitement after Monday’s low-key walkthrough practice, his emotions with family and friends present for his debut will be in the stratosphere.

Pearsall’s conversations with the media have been strictly informal, and the plan is for him to speak on the record for the first time after he plays in a game.

Jennings, the 49ers leading wide receiver with 25 receptions for 404 yards and three touchdowns, is out with a hip injury. He’s the only wide out with a red zone touchdown, a 4-yard flip from Purdy against the Rams. The starters are Deebo Samuel (20 receptions, 335 yards, one touchdown) and Brandon Aiyuk (23 receptions, 351 yards zero touchdowns).

Jennings’ production has come mostly as a third receiver, a role Pearsall could play against the Chiefs. Jennings has averaged 40 snaps per game, and it remains to be seen whether Shanahan will play his rookie that much.

“We’ll see how it unfolds,” Shanahan said.

When the 49ers and Chiefs met in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Jennings was a potential MVP until Patrick Mahomes worked his magic, throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to McCaffery and catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from Purdy.

Aiyuk was targeted six times by Purdy in the Super Bowl and caught three passes for 49 yards. Samuel was targeted 11 times, caught three passes for 33 yards and carried three times for eight yards.

The hope is Pearsall can be of some help either now or later as another potential red zone target with McCaffery remaining out indefinitely while recovering from Achilles tendonitis in both ankles. So far it’s been mostly tight end George Kittle in terms of production with all five of his touchdowns coming on plays inside the 20-yard line.

Pearsall has been fielding punt returns in practice and Shanahan didn’t rule out using him in that specialty. Given that he had just 15 punt returns for 153 yards in five years at Arizona State and Florida, that seems unlikely.

That would make Jacob Cowing an active receiver to go along with Samuel, Aiyuk and Pearsall, with Chris Conley and Ronnie Bell also available as a fifth receiver and special teams player.

About the only thing missing from the Pearsall drama is the story of how the 49ers gave him the news he’d be playing in his first game.

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As practice progresses during the week, players know without asking whether they’ve got a role or not, and that was apparently the case with Pearsall.

“I wish I could give you a better story,” Shanahan said. “We kept repping him and when you’re repping guys like that, I think he understood he was going to be up. There was no magical moment.”

The 49ers are hoping for something along those lines on Sunday.

Election 2024: Carmel City Council races focus on infrastructure

CARMEL >> Two sitting Carmel City Council members have opted not to run for reelection, leaving five candidates battling for two seats on the dais this election day.

Bobby Richards, who has spent two decades on boards, commissions and the Carmel City Council, said he will remain active in the town but wants a break to travel to some of the country’s National Parks.

Karen Ferlito, whose term was set to expire in December, has opted to spend more time with her family, including a grandchild.

Their decisions have opened a floodgate of candidates who have designs on what they said they believe is the best way for Carmel to navigate critical issues lying ahead. Like every city in California, Carmel is facing state-mandated increases in housing units in a town with very little space left to expand.

And aging infrastructure – sidewalks, streets, drainage, buildings – and beach and forest protection are all on the minds of the five candidates, in alphabetical order:

Hans Buder

The 38 year-old Buder is a transplant from the Boston area, having been born and reared on Martha’s Vineyard, an experience he said is important to understanding the issues impacting coastal communities.

Buder is active in a number of civic organizations, including the Forest and Beach Commission, the Big Sur Land Trust and the board chair of the Monterey County Housing Authority.

He is the founder of Carmel-based The Moving to Opportunity Fund. He describes the fund as a social-impact focused real estate investment firm designed to put low-income kids on a path to college by providing their families with access to mixed-income housing.

He views the challenges facing the town as budget constraints, an ailing forest and aging city infrastructure. But the key challenge will be navigating current and future state housing laws.

“I helped to bring in the leading housing-element expert in the state to consult with our group and with the city, and we are currently working through potential alternative strategies, such as (accessory dwelling unit) strategies, a guest house amnesty program, potential development on church sites, small-scale developments in the downtown area and the conversion of under-performing hotels into housing.”

Bob Delves

A current Planning Commissioner, the 65-year-old Delves said the demanding role in helping to decide land-use issues has taught him that addressing any issue the city faces will require sound preparation and understanding of the challenges, particularly regarding the town’s aging infrastructure.

“Maintenance of our infrastructure has been deferred over many years and the bill is coming due,” Delves told The Herald. “The Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan shows over $50 million in unfunded deferred maintenance of infrastructure, and ignoring this any longer is not an option.”

He cites his 45 years in leadership positions, including as a senior corporate executive and founder of several companies, as well as nonprofit work, that has prepared him to use his fiscal management skills to serve the city. Delves said collaboration among elected officials is of utmost importance, as well as rigorous financial oversight of city staff.

“I think my mix of experiences over a lifetime in the private, public and nonprofit sectors are different – not better, just different – from the other strong candidates.  We’re not opponents; just five people raising our hands to volunteer for service to our community,” he said.

Danny Hala

The 26-year-old native and business owner lives with his wife and two children in Carmel. He said he is involved in all facets of the community and is a member of the Carmel Heritage Society.

“I spend every day in both the commercial and residential districts,” he said. “This gives me an intimate understanding of our community through observation and daily interactions with a wide group of residents and business owners.”

One of his key concerns is the state of Carmel sidewalks. He said they are responsible for serious injury to residents as well as visitors every year. Overhead power lines need to be moved underground to help prevent numerous outages that occur during storms.

“I will prioritize fixing sidewalks, installing underground power lines, and creating an open dialogue with residents,” he said.

Parker Logan

The 51-year-old Logan is a fourth-generation Carmel resident who is taking aim at what he calls authoritarian state laws that threaten the history and local control over the town.

The owner of a 98-year-old bar and lounge cites five specific state laws – all having to do with housing – that he believes take any decision-making away from local elected leaders.

He said he is adamantly against city ordinances such as rental registries, rent control and vacancy taxes.

“I’m set apart from everyone else because my promise is to vote against issues that take away those freedoms rather than succumb to social influences that demand social equity,” he said. “Local governments seem to think it’s OK to forget the Constitution of the United States of America.”

The American Planning Association defines “social equity” as “just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.”

David O’Neil

The 47-year-old O’Neil is a real-estate agent who volunteers at a number of local nonprofit groups and agencies, including the SPCA, Meals on Wheels, the Carmel Police Department, Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the board of the Carmel Residents Association.

He said he believes in the need for better communication between the Carmel City Council and residents.

“When I represent the board of directors of the Carmel Residents Association at City Council meetings, we are routinely ignored,” he said. “Decisions are made that the larger community doesn’t agree with, which leaves us wondering why the council is not listening to the wishes of the public; this is, after all, a representative democracy.”

He said he also believes the state is eroding the rights of Carmel residents without the council pushing back, and has attacked sitting council members and the mayor for not doing more.

He added that by investing in initiatives such as sidewalk repair, landscaping, street improvements, public art installations and architectural upgrades, Carmel can maintain its visually distinctive environment for residents and visitors alike.

A (sperm) whale of a discovery in Monterey Bay

MONTEREY >> Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean’s surface, the planet’s largest-toothed predator hunts for prey, which could include a giant squid or even a shark.

Since the deep ocean is dark, the creature hunts by sound. It makes a series of clicks, the loudest sound produced by any animal, by forcing air through its nose and into a specialized organ. Each click lasts for a fraction of a second, their echoes are processed by its brain, which is five times larger than a human’s, to pinpoint the location of its next meal.

According to scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), sperm whales frequent the deep waters around Monterey Bay much more than previously thought. The researchers analyzed seven years’ worth of recordings captured by an underwater microphone near Monterey Bay to see how often they heard clicks made by sperm whales.

Sperm whales off the Orange County coastline. (Photo via The Orange County Register courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

“We actually found that these animals are here quite a bit more often than we had realized,” says Will Oestreich, a researcher from MBARI and the lead author of a study published last month in Movement Ecology, a journal that covers research on animal migration.

Since sperm whales spend most of their time deep underwater, humans rarely see them. John Ryan, a researcher at MBARI who was involved with the study, said one local whale watching boat naturalist reports seeing them around once every five years. In contrast, the underwater microphone recorded sperm whales on over one-third of the days between 2015 and 2022. MBARI placed the microphone 18 miles from the coast, 3,000 feet-deep in 2015.

This study “allows us to recognize they’re a persistent part of the biodiversity here,” he says. “We did not know that. We didn’t know it from our eyeballs.”

This finding is important for conserving sperm whales, Oestreich says. “This is an endangered population of marine mammals. If we want to protect them, we first need to understand where they are.”

An underwater microphone, or hydrophone, installed on MBARI’s cabled deep-sea observatory, the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS), in the heart of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The trove of acoustic data recorded by this hydrophone gives researchers an important lens into marine life and ecosystems. (Photo courtesy of MBARI)

Ryan says that sperm whales likely benefit from recent efforts to protect other whales on the California coast, like the Blue Whales and Blue Skies program. Although sperm whales spend most of their time deep underwater, they occasionally take 10-15 minute naps near the surface, making them especially vulnerable to ship strikes. The program has reduced the chances of a fatal ship strike on California’s whales by 58%.

Oestreich and colleagues also found that the number of sperm whales off the coast of the Monterey Peninsula varies throughout the year. They identified the source of this variation by comparing the frequency of sperm whale noises to the location of a food-rich region called the North Pacific Transition Zone. This area moves throughout the year and many surface-dwelling ocean predators follow it.

The researchers found that sperm whales are most abundant around Monterey Bay when the North Pacific Transition Zone is here. While they do not follow it as closely as surface-dwelling creatures, it provides strong evidence that sperm whales migrate seasonally. This has powerful implications for our understanding of the deep ocean.

Sperm whales “can provide insight into this understudied ecosystem that is difficult to study because it is so deep down and has many moving parts,” says Natalie Posdaljian, a researcher who studies sperm whales off the coast of Alaska who was not involved with this study. She thinks that sperm whales can tell us a lot about the deep ocean.

Dark, cold and beyond the reach of the sun’s rays, scientists used to think this environment does not have seasons. But Oestreich’s findings are part of a growing body of evidence suggesting the deep ocean does experience seasonal change. Rather than coming from changes in temperature, these seasons might come from changes in the food and nutrients that rain down from the surface.

Since the deep ocean is so inaccessible, Oestreich and colleagues did not look for the whales, they listened. Although sperm whale echolocation clicks are the loudest sound made by any creature, the sheer length of the recording analyzed for the study made the task difficult.

“Picture a song on your Spotify library, but it’s more than seven years long. That’s what we’re dealing with here,” says Oestreich.

He created a computer program that could differentiate the clicks made by sperm whales from other noises in the ocean. The program also measured the amount of time between consecutive clicks, which tells us a lot about individual whales.

“The body size of a sperm whale is correlated with the spacing between clicks,” Oestreich says. Based on this, he identified small “teenage” whales, medium-sized females, and large males in the recordings. These findings align with other acoustic studies, but contradict anecdotal reports, which suggest large males live in different areas from females and their young.

Oestreich believes his research is important for protecting sperm whales, but he also sees it as interesting in itself.

“There is a lot of value in understanding the way of life of another creature that we share this planet with. I think there is a lot of wonder in that. I hope others find a degree of joy and fascination in the pure discovery of this sort of science.”

To listen to sperm whale hunting click here

A sperm whale observed in Monterey Bay in 2022. A new study by MBARI researchers and their collaborators has revealed that sperm whales are more common offshore of California than previously believed, and has provided new evidence for seasonal migrations in this top predator of the deep sea. (Photo by Tim Huntington)

What to know about Han Kang, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature

Max Kim, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

SEOUL, South Korea — You’d be hard pressed to find anyone here who had anticipated that Han Kang would be awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature, the world’s highest literary honor.

Although the South Korean novelist had already tallied up a number of other prestigious international accolades and is widely read here, she is 53, and the award traditionally favors writers in the twilight of their careers.

“I thought that she might win it one day, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon,” said Jeong Kwa-ri, a literary critic and former professor of Korean literature at Yonsei University, Han’s alma mater. “Most of the South Korean writers who have been seen as top contenders are in their 70s and 80s.”

Recognized last week by the Swedish Academy “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,” Han is the first Asian woman to win the literature Nobel in its 123-year-old history and the second South Korean Nobel laureate. Then-President Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his diplomacy with North Korea.

Han has kept a low profile following the win, reportedly refusing a celebration her father planned, citing the wars still raging in Gaza and Ukraine. But the rest of the country has been abuzz with “Han Kang Syndrome.”

Salespeople display books by South Korean author Han Kang, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, at a bookstore in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. From the president to K-pop megastars BTS, South Korea erupted into celebration on Oct. 10, after “The Vegetarian” author Han Kang won the country’s first Nobel Prize for literature. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

As of Tuesday, the country’s book retailers have reported more than 800,000 sales of Han’s works and expect to hit the 1 million mark by the end of the week. Stores, dealing with long lines, are rapidly selling out, and printing presses have been working around the clock to produce more.

Han, who was born in 1970 in the city of Gwangju, comes from a literary family. Her father is Han Sung-won, a famous novelist who has cheerfully noted that his daughter’s stature has eclipsed his own.

“It used to be that Han Kang was known as Han Sung-won’s daughter, but now I’ve become Han Sung-won, the father of Han Kang,” he said in an interview in 2016.

Many of Han’s novels are intimate portraits of violence inflicted on ordinary lives, spanning both South Korea’s long history of authoritarian rule and the feminist struggles of the present.

Among her best-known works in South Korea is “Human Acts,” a novel about the Chun Doo-hwan military dictatorship’s massacre of civilians in 1980 following pro-democracy protests in the city of Gwangju.

A man shows a book of South Korean author Han Kang at a bookstore in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024, after she was announced as the laureate of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. From the president to K-pop megastars BTS, South Korea erupted into celebration on Oct. 10, after “The Vegetarian” author Han Kang won the country’s first Nobel Prize for literature. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Public debate about the massacre has long been an irritant for South Korean conservatives, who have at times sought to downplay the government’s role or promoted conspiracy theories that the protests were an act of North Korean subterfuge.

Under the conservative administration of former President Park Geun-hye, the daughter of another military dictator, Han was placed on a blacklist in 2014, barring her from receiving government support, along with other creatives deemed to be ideologically undesirable.

Told through multiple perspectives, “Human Acts” draws inspiration from real-life figures, including Moon Jae-hak, a high school student who was shot to death by junta forces deployed to Gwangju.

“I was so happy that I thought my heart would stop,” Kim Kil-ja, Moon’s mother, said of Han’s Nobel in an interview with local media. “Her book has managed to spread the truth about the incident to the world.”

Han’s own recommendation for those just diving into her work is “We Do Not Part,” a novel that explores a civilian massacre the South Korean government committed on the island of Jeju in 1948, a period of anti-communist paranoia. The English translation of the novel, which won France’s Prix Médicis award last year, is due in January 2025.

But the most famous — and notorious — of Han’s oeuvre is “The Vegetarian,” a darkly surreal tale about a woman who spirals into madness after vowing to give up meat. Lauded as a parable about female resistance against patriarchal South Korean society, the novel won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, an honor shared by Han and her British translator, Deborah Smith.

But the award placed the book at the center of a fierce debate about literary translations. Critics said the award-winning English translation by Smith, who had only started learning Korean a few years earlier, not only committed basic errors — such as confusing the Korean word for “foot” with “arm” — but altered the text far beyond the acceptable parameters of translation.

“Translations of Korean literature have long suffered from many obstacles, with more ‘pure’ translations failing to find success,” Jeong, the literary critic, said.

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The question has long preoccupied the country’s literary scene, which has watched South Korea’s film and television industries produce worldwide hits like “Parasite” or “Squid Game” while wondering why South Korean books have failed to capture the same level of global interest.

“As a result of that, there has been an increasing tendency in translation to overlook disfigurations of the original text in favor of conforming to foreign readers’ tastes,” Jeong said. “‘The Vegetarian’ is a prime example of that.”

Writing for The Times in 2016, Charse Yun, a Korean American literary translator, acknowledged Smith’s “exquisite” sentences but said that the translation had “morphed into a ‘new creation.’”

“I find it hard to come up with an adequate analogy, but imagine the plain, contemporary style of Raymond Carver being garnished with the elaborate diction of Charles Dickens,” he wrote.

Defending her work in an essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2018, Smith, who has translated two more of Han’s books, argued that, given the differences in any two languages, “there can be no such thing as a translation that is not ‘creative.’”

For many critics, the translation question is still an open one. But for better or worse, Han’s latest and most prestigious honor has now cemented the playbook for Korean literature’s global success.

Despite his doubts about Smith’s translation, Yun today sees plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

“The field was greatly opened and more people were able to access Korean literature,” Yun said of Han’s global rise.

“I’m just happy for my former students and other talented translators out there that now have an opportunity to bring other Korean voices to the field.”

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Navigating this world-record corn maze is a test of the human psyche

Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

DIXON, Calif. — Deep inside one of the world’s largest corn mazes, where the tri-tip sandwiches and soft-serve ice cream purchased at the concession stand have become but a memory and all that can be seen in any direction are dirt paths and dead-end walls of green plants whispering in the breeze, people tend to reveal themselves.

From humble beginnings with a not-very-impressive pumpkin patch two decades ago, a farming family in this Solano County town decided to move into the corn maze game, hoping to have some seasonal fun and earn a little extra cash. And then, fueled by corny ambition and creative use of Excel spreadsheets, the Cooley family of Dixon went big. Really big.

Their Cool Patch Pumpkins corn maze has caused traffic back-ups on Interstate 80. It has prompted a frenzy of 911 calls to the Solano County Sheriff’s Department from people who find themselves lost in the labyrinth. It has twice earned a Guinness World Record as the world’s largest corn maze. And in doing so, it has become “a big part” of the farm’s revenue, according to Tayler Cooley, despite the vast acreage the family farms year-round.

An aerial view of the corn maze at Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon, Calif. (Tayler Cooley/TNS)

Over the years, the maze has also served as a towering 60-acre experiment in human psychology.

“You can learn a lot” about a person from how they behave in a corn maze, said Brett Herbst, who said he built the first one west of the Mississippi in 1996, and now has a company, the Maize, that designs and builds them each fall for farmers around the country. (Cool Patch is not one of his customers.)

Some people, it turns out, approach a hokey seasonal activity as they would an Olympic race: Speed is the goal. They grip their paper maps with tight fingers and fierce concentration. They blast around corners of corn, barely dodging small children. Woe to anyone in their group who wants to take a rest.

Others like to wander. They turn this way and that through the rustling 10-foot stalks, laughing when they get lost, and pausing for chats, snacks and selfies atop the four elevated bridges that connect different parts of the maze.

Sit quietly amongst the ears of corn, and it becomes easy to spot who is who:

“Guys, pick up the pace,” a young woman from UC Davis screamed at her companions as they ran by on a recent afternoon, explaining that they were racing against another group and could not pause to talk.

Contrast that with Amari Moore, 22, of Sacramento, who was taking a nice long break at one of the bridges. “I’m getting a little tired,” she said.

And then — and there is no nice way to put this — there are the cheaters. These are the people who, despairing of finding their way out honestly, simply smash and bash their way through the corn willy-nilly.

Or, those who lose all hope of escape and in their panic call 911 to plead for rescue from sheriff’s deputies. (The dispatchers tend to counsel waiting for help from on site — or taking the cheater’s route out.)

“You can learn a lot” about a person from how they behave in a corn maze, says professional corn maze designer Brett Herbst. (Tayler Cooley/TNS)

Mazes and labyrinths have been around for thousands of years. In Greek mythology, the Minotaur — with the head of a bull and body of a man — was imprisoned at the center of a labyrinth in Crete and ate anyone who couldn’t find their way out. Theseus managed to kill the Minotaur, but still needed help from a princess to escape.

The farm town of Dixon, population 19,000, made its mark in mazes about 20 years ago — about the time corn mazes began to take off across the U.S. thanks to new computer programming that helps farmers plot out massive labyrinths with a sinuous web of passageways.

Matt Cooley, a second-generation farmer of walnuts, tomatoes, sunflowers, wheat and alfalfa, decided to grow a few pumpkins for Halloween and sell them by the side of the road. Then, someone gave him the idea to create a maze.

The Cool Patch maze, which rises from the flatlands near Interstate 80 just before the Sacramento Valley rolls up into the Vaca Mountains, got ever larger and more creative. Tayler Cooley, Matt’s daughter-in-law, is the designer. Each year, it has a theme. This year, the words “A House Divided Shall Not Stand” are carved into the corn, along with “God Bless America.” Is it a comment on the coming election, and the country’s profoundly divided electorate?

“This year we encourage our visitors and society as a whole to band together for the greater good of our nation,” the Cooley family explains on the Cool Patch website.

In recent years, the farm has also become famous for a symbol that people can get behind no matter their political persuasion: the minions of the “Despicable Me” film franchise. In recent years, one of the farm’s employees, Juan Ramirez, has crafted giant minions out of hay bales that are visible from the freeway.

Some scholars think mazes embody paradoxes. And it may be a paradox of modern agriculture that the Cooleys’ farm is not the only one that now brings in a substantial portion of its income from a maze that sprouts for only a few weeks each autumn. (The corn from the maze is harvested in November, Tayler Cooley said, and becomes animal feed.)

Two Minions created by Juan Ramirez beckon visitors to the Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon. The hay bale creations have become a popular landmark as motorists head along Interstate 80 from Sacramento to the Bay Area. (Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS)

Farming is a tough business, especially for small- and medium-sized farms, which can be rocked by the weather and fluctuations in commodities pricing and fuel costs.

When it comes to agritourism, corn mazes once lurked in the shadows of pumpkin patches, U-pick berry operations and apple orchard hayrides. But, perhaps because of those mythic roots and their ability to test the human psyche, they’ve exploded in popularity.

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Herbst, founder of the Maize, said the first commercial corn maze he knows of was grown by a farmer in the early 1990s. Herbst built his own in 1996. These days, his company prepares maze designs for hundreds of farms. For an additional charge, his crew will carve out the maze.

“Corn maze has become a staple word for October, just like pumpkins,” he said.

In 2023, according to Guiness, a farmer in Quebec usurped Cool Patch for the title to world’s largest maze. But for the thousands of people who now view a trip to Dixon as one of their autumn rituals, it hardly matters.

“I grew up coming here,” said Becca Invanusich, 32, who was visiting on a recent Saturday from Santa Rosa with her fiance and two friends.

As a child, her maze style was to cheat: “I would just shoot right through it,” she said, gesturing to the rows of corn.

But as an adult, she said, she savors the mental challenge. Her group planned to solve the puzzle, no matter how long it took.

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The 10 best horror films of 2024 (thus far) — get a jump on Halloween

It’s been nothing short of a banner year for horror movies.

Since 2024 kicked off nearly 11 months ago, gore hounds have been treated with a seemingly nonstop supply of good fright flicks.

They’ve come in all shapes and sizes, from monsters and mad men to creeps and creatures to slashers and space aliens.

Throughout it all, I’ve paid very close attention – perhaps more closely than one would say is healthy – to all the blood baths, jump scares and things that go bump in the night, picking the winners from the losers, with the goal of delivering my list of the Best Horror Films of 2024 (thus far) to you in time for Halloween.

And, jeepers, do I ever think I’ve succeeded in that goal.

All 10 of my picks were released widely this year, although some may have premiered earlier at film festivals and whatnot. Also, they are listed in order, from the very best to – in the case of this particular year – still really worth watching.

More significantly, all of creepy offerings are available to stream/rent/download. So, read on and pick a few that sound intriguing. Then – if you dare – go right ahead and host your own Halloween movie party.

1. ‘In a Violent Nature’

Director Chris Nash flips the script on standard slasher film fare, creating something that feels refreshingly new and — most terrifyingly – real in a genre that has been plagued by clichés and laziness for decades.

The result is a film that doesn’t resemble anything I’ve ever seen in the genre, which is clearly not a statement I thought I would be making in 2024.

The sheer creativeness with the gore and effects is what grabs the headlines, but this film’s best moments come from how Nash strikes – and then holds – the feeling of menace basically throughout the entire film.

Plus, the genre definitely now has a new slasher icon in the silent, hulking Johnny.

2. ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’

This prequel seals the deal on “A Quiet Place” being the best horror movie franchise of recent years, becoming the third film in the series to rank in the top 5 fright flicks of its respective year.

Director Michael Sarnoski does a great job taking over the helm from John Krasinski (who still co-wrote the story and co-produced the film) in this prequel, as he goes back and sets the table for all the terror of 2018’s “A Quiet Place” and 2020’s “A Quiet Place Part II.”

The space creatures (known by fans as “Death Angels”) are still terrifying predators, but this film is really about survival, friendship and, ultimately, what makes us human.

And the film’s last sequence, set to the best song of all time (aka, Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good”), is my favorite closing scene of any film released in 2024.

3. ‘The Substance’

Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle (played by Demi Moore) is having a really bad 50th birthday, as she ends up getting dumped from her popular TV exercise show so someone younger can step in and host.

Getting older stinks, she reasons, so she decides to do something about it and signs up for this highly experimental procedure that can breathe new life into her 50-year-old body. It turns out to be an appallingly bad idea, but one that also sets the scene for one of the finest body horror films of all time.

Moore is splendid in the role – and one can only hope the Oscar buzz around her performance will actually result in a nomination. And while we’re talking Oscar nominations, pencil one down in the best supporting role category for Dennis Quaid as Sparkle’s creepy, ageist boss.

The whole film is sensational, but the last 20 minutes or so have to be seen to be believed.

4. ‘Sting’

It’s a good ol’ fashioned mainstream monster movie – the type that were once churned out seemingly every week in the ‘80s – where the blood and gore are kept light and jump scares are king.

All 12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) wants is a companion, someone – or something – to keep her company while mom and stepdad are busy with other things. Unfortunately, she picks a crazy mutant/alien spider thingy, which immediately begins multiplying in size and causing all sorts of mayhem in the apartment building Charlotte lives in.

The retro feel of the whole thing, combined with solid acting and a script that keeps things moving along quite nicely, makes this a little horror film that pays off big time.

5. ‘Late Night with the Devil’

At the time of this writing, this was the top rated horror film of 2024 on Rotten Tomatoes – boosting nothing short of a 97 percent approval rating.

I’m actually more surprised about the 3 percent who voted thumbs down, as opposed the overwhelming 97 percent who loved this entirely creepy tale of late-night talk show host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) who goes way to far to try and improve his ratings.

In his pursuit of taking down Johnny Carson, Delroy ends up unleashing true evil upon TV viewers across the country.

Whoops!

6. ‘Oddity’

The Irish horror feature, which won the audience award during the incredibly popular midnight movies series at the South by Southwest film festival earlier this year, has been a true word of mouth sensation.

People see this film, which hit theaters in the U.S. without much fanfare back in July, and then they go on to tell all their friends about this chilling tale of one fateful night when a dreadful wooden mannequin arrives at the home of a psychiatrist and his new girlfriend.

The fact that the psychiatrist immediately lets this monstrosity into the house, of course, is a definite sign that he should hire his own psychiatrist. (Hasn’t this guy ever seen a horror movie before?)

“Oddity” deals in pure tension and apprehension, crafting the kind of spookiness that stays with a viewer long after the actual film is over.

7. ‘Arcadian’

Just can’t get enough of the “A Quiet Place” films (and don’t want to wait until the fourth, and supposedly last, one comes out)? Then push play on “Arcadian,” which is another groovy post-apocalyptic flick that definitely delivers on its premise.

Nicholas Cage – who had a big year in the horror realm (see No. 8 below as well) – is at the top of his game playing a father who is trying to keep his two young sons safe in a world gone mad with (really cool looking) monsters.

We’ve seen this storyline scads of times before, packaged under countless different titles, but rarely handled as convincingly as what you get here.

8. ‘Longlegs’

This was the most hyped-up horror film of the year, with advance reviews hoisting the bar so high that it was seemingly inevitable that some viewers would leave theaters feeling a bit underwhelmed.

No, “Longlegs” isn’t for every horror fan. But those who like creepy, mood-driven mediations on the genre, filled with plenty of twists and turns and boosting a kind of David Lynchian vibe, then “Longlegs” should definitely do the trick.

Plus, you get to see Cage deliver what may well be his most bizarre performance to date – and, yes, I know that’s really saying something.

9. ‘Stopmotion’

I’d be lying if I said I really liked this movie. I didn’t. It was hard to watch and disturbing. Yet, it was also a film that challenged me and stayed with me, as it explored a really whacked-out relationship between an artist and her art. It’s certainly one of the most impactful horror films of 2024, striking the all-consuming question of how far will you go to feed your muse and further your own creations.

10. ‘Night Swim’

OK, so I liked this one – probably more than I should have. It’s not great art, but rather pretty run-of-the-mill supernatural fare – once again from the never-resting horror mill known as Blumhouse Productions. And the premise – a demonic swimming pool that devours people – is ridiculous even by horror standards.

Yet, it was well put together, kept my interest – even through multiple viewings – and provided some good scares. And sometimes that’s all you need in a horror movie – especially at Halloween time.